


King's Pawn Game

by Meddalarksen, victoriousscarf



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chess Metaphors, Chess Team, Drunk karaoke, High school AU with powers, Multi, Poor Life Choices, Tony Stark's life choices, Underage Drinking, teachers get love too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-03
Updated: 2015-07-25
Packaged: 2017-11-04 18:29:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/396885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meddalarksen/pseuds/Meddalarksen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/victoriousscarf/pseuds/victoriousscarf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The high school chess team is made up entirely of mutants, the faculty lounge can barely keep itself together, and Tony Stark (Who no one should have allowed into a position of remote power to begin with) probably knows more then anyone else. </p><p>It's going to be a long four years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. En Passant

Charles Xavier shifted his book bag on his shoulder, glancing at his sister and their friend and offering them a bright smile, "We've finally arrived to hear some people tell it."

The first day of high school was supposed to be an adventure, but for a blossoming telepath it was more like jumping off a boat into a stormy sea without a life preserver. The number of emotions and thoughts he could already feel battering at his shields were sure to cause troubles if he was having a bad day.

Hank McCoy gave him a long, somewhat deep suffering look. "We've finally arrived? Please tell me you're joking. I'd rather be heading out that arriving."

That got a laugh from Raven, who was walking on Charles' other side, "Four years, Hank. You'll survive."

"Says you now," Hank returned, hunching his shoulders slightly.

"Oh, come on." She grinned at him, "What's the w—"

Charles cut her off, "Raven, don't jinx us the first day, please."

"Please," Hank added. He glanced down at the rather plain looking shirt that Raven had informed him he was wearing on the first day of class—after taking away his pocket protector from middle school—and sighed. "It can't be that much different from the last few years, can it?"

"Perhaps not initially," Charles admitted, "But there's a chance that it will improve with time. After all, more than half the student body doesn't know us...or doesn't really know us, so we can craft ourselves as we like."

"Until the half that does gets back at us?" Hank replied, nearly running into a blond boy heading the other way. "I'm not sure I want more students running around myself."

The blond turned slightly at that, scowling in their direction, but was hurried along by a taller brunet. Charles' brow arched at the flash of  _something_  he'd gotten from the two, but he brushed it off. "You're looking at it the wrong way, Hank," he chided.

"I'm with Charles," Raven nodded. "Try to find the bright side."

"Bright side?" Hank returned. "Charles, we're in  _high school_."

"And we'll be graduating in just a few years, and able to go on to do whatever we like," Charles responded.

Hank sighed. "You're going to pester me until I start looking at the bright side here, aren't you?"

The telepath grinned at him, "You know I will."

"Fine," the taller teen whined. "I'm sure the next four years will just  _fly_  by and then we can all happily move onto the greener pastures of college."

Charles and Raven exchanged a look at that, Charles finally shrugging, "Well, it's a start."

Hank looked distinctly unimpressed at that, glancing down at his schedule. "Does anyone have any ideas about this whole... clubs fair or something like that?"

Raven shrugged, "Not really, but I'm going for the sake of going at this point. Charles?"

"Haven't heard much about it, but I figure there's no real harm in attending."

"It's after classes I think," Hank said, adjusting his glasses. "Anyone happen to have any good classes?"

Raven grimaced slightly, "Not really. I've got Drama for an elective, but who knows how that'll go."

"Dramatically, I would presume," Hank said with a teasing grin.

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, we should head for our first classes then I guess?"

"Probably," Hank sighed, looking down at his schedule. "At least I'm not in math with the freshmen..."

Charles managed a bit of a laugh at that, "Yes, at least. Well, we all have second lunch, right?"

"Second lunch," Hank agreed.

Raven nodded, causing her brother to smile, "Great, so we'll meet up then?"

"Then again at this... fair?" Hank offered as a tall, angular teen in a black turtle neck stalked by, looking very focused on where ever he was heading.

Charles gaze was drawn to the other teen, watching him go and only snapping back to himself when his sister elbowed him, "Hm? Oh, yes, meet again at the fair thing."

"You okay there, Charles?" Hank asked with an arched brow.

"Hm? Oh, yes. I'm fine. I'll see you both at lunch. Have a good first few classes."

As Charles went off, Hank glanced back to Raven, whose first class was closer to his own. "What was that?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. You know how he gets sometimes with the things he hears. Maybe it was something like that?"

"Ah, true," Hank murmured. "Still, I'm worried about him here, bright side or not."

"He'll be alright. We'll keep an eye on him."

"I believe that was already our plan?" Hank offered.

She nodded, "It was. Anything new to add to our worries about him?"

"I don't know, tall brooding strangers?" Hank replied.

"We'll keep an eye on him too," Raven nodded decisively. "Maybe it was just something about his thoughts? Who knows. But we'll watch him. Have a good class, Hank."

"Yeah, you too," he said, waving her off before entering the math class he had tested into—he had no idea what the school was planning to do with him after he took senior math freshman year.

H-H-H-H

Darwin sighed at the blond boy beside him. "Could you pretend to be cheerful? Smile for all the nice people, Alex."

Alex Summers rolled his eyes, "This is cheerful. Doesn't mean I want to be here. Why are we going to the club fair or whatever the hell it is?"

"Because it's sociable?" Darwin offered.

"You're sounding like Scott."

"Probably because I was hanging out with your brother all summer," Darwin rolled his eyes. "Besides, isn't golden boy all involved in clubs and stuff?"

"See reason number seventeen I don't want to go to this. He's president of a couple. Can't I just go out for baseball and call it good?"

"No, you can't," Darwin replied, reaching out and taking his upper arm. "Come along now."

Alex rolled his eyes again, but allowed himself to be dragged along to the club fair, "Fine."

"We'll avoid Scott's clubs, alright?" Darwin gave him a peace offering.

"Alright. We avoid those ones like the plague."

Darwin laughed. "Oh come on, your brother's not that bad..."

"Says the guy who doesn't have to live with him, and doesn't have to take classes from teachers who had him last year."

"Oh no," Darwin couldn't help but laugh. "Are they already starting in on that?"

"Not yet, but that's what happened last year, and the year before, and I give them 'til the first assignments are turned in."

"It won't be that bad," Darwin attempted.

Alex looked unconvinced, "So, any idea what clubs you're thinking about?"

"Not yet," he said. "It's all about energy, you know? Gotta see who else is around before deciding on anything. That's why a fair's so cool, you see all the clubs at once."

The blond just looked at the other, "Energy. Right."

"Oh hush you. Yes, energy."

"Well, let's go see what sort of after school activities they have devised to keep us hooligans out of trouble."

"You're not that much of a hooligan," Darwin murmured, reaching the doors of the gym where everything was set up.

That earned a ghost of a grin as he murmured his reply, "I hope you think that, can't see you dating a true hooligan."

"I'm much too dignified," Darwin agreed, looking around the bustling room. "Hm, where to start?"

"How about that far corner over there that's clear across the gym from my brother?" Alex pointed to the corner he meant.

"We could at least say hi," Darwin said, with a small shake of his head.

"And we will. If there is still time once we've seen all the other booths."

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, Darwin used his hand on Alex's arm to sheer him toward the nearest club flyers.

Raven strode into the gym, looking around at the mass of students and club tables. She glanced up at Hank, "Do you remember where we were meeting Charles?"

"Not really?" Hank offered. "We might want to try, I don't know, the chess club?"

"There's a chess club? That's probably our best bet for Charles then."

"I think I saw something about one," Hank replied.

"Well, let's go find that then," she grabbed his wrist and started weaving through the crowd.

He allowed himself to be dragged along, not much noticing the different club booths they were passing, full of various people smiling and trying to tempt people to their side. "We have a science club?"

"Apparently. I promise you can go back and look it over once we've found Charles."

"Okay," he murmured, eyes still roving over the room before they settled on what looked like a paper mâché chess piece. "I bet it's that one."

Raven looked to where he was pointing and nodded, slipping through a gap in the press of people.

Following her, Hank frowned slightly when he noticed the same tall teen in the turtleneck. He did not look impressed in the least with the general fair. The girl didn't notice the teen from earlier, her gaze sweeping around for her brother. She finally spotted him next to the chess table, but almost between it and the booth next to it to avoid too much contact with the crowd, "Charles!"

He looked up from where he was talking to one of the members of the chess club, his blue eyes seeking her out. He offered her a bright smile, faintly tinged with relief, "Raven, there you are."

"There's more people here then I actually expected," Hank remarked, following Raven closely, glancing every once and a while at the tall teen, who seemed to have noticed the chess table.

Charles nodded at that, taking his sister's hand as soon as she was in range. She let go of Hank and gave her brother an anchor, "There are rather a lot more people than I think most of us expected. Though, I suppose it's a sort of rite of passage to some."

"High school tends to be," Hank murmured. "So let me guess, you want to be on chess team?"

That earned a grin from Charles, "Of course I do. I wouldn't be here otherwise, would I?"

"Well, you could be hiding," Hank remarked.

That comment was greeted with wide blue eyes, looking up at him innocently, "And who or what would I possibly be hiding from?"

"No idea," Hank murmured, only somewhat sarcastically.

Raven looked her brother over, considering saying something, but a look from his silenced her. Charles glanced at Hank, "So, see anything that sparks your interest?"

"We have a science team," Hank replied, and a glint entered his eyes.

"Well, perhaps we should go check that out next?" Charles offered, his gaze sweeping around the students again and coming to rest on the tall teen in the turtleneck.

"Sure," Hank said, following his gaze. "Does, um, anyone know who that is?"

Raven shook her head as Charles answered, "Erik. He's new to town."

His sister eyed him, "Do you have a class with him?"

"I think I have English with him."

"You think?"

"I was paying attention to the teacher then."

Raven looked at him warily, "Are you skimming?"

Charles had the sense to look a bit sheepish at that, "Maybe a bit..."

"Charles," Hank started to say softly as the teen in question suddenly appeared next to them at the booth.

"Is this a club for chess?" he asked, his English good but still with a marked German accent.

Charles looked up, offering him a smile, "As far as I can determine, it is." He paused for a moment before offering the other his hand, "Charles Xavier."

The taller teen's eyes flickered down to the offered hand before taking it. "Erik Lehnsherr," he replied.

"Do you like chess, then?" Charles asked, ignoring Raven's sigh of frustration.

"Yes," he replied. "Do you?"

The smaller teen nodded, "I do. I don't get as much chance to play as I used to, but I do enjoy it."

"Well perhaps something of this sort would give you more chance to play, no?" Erik offered, Hank giving him a very odd look.

"I certainly hope it will," Charles answered. Startling very slightly when his sister kicked lightly at the back of his ankle, "Oh, I'm sorry. I completely forgot, Erik, this is my sister Raven and our friend Hank McCoy."

"Charmed," Erik said, sparing them a glance that didn't look half so interested as the one he'd been giving Charles.

"I'm sure you are," Hank muttered.

Raven smiled thinly, "Well, it's good to meet you. We were just headed to the science team table, weren't we, Charles?"

"Hm? Oh, you two can go on and I'll catch—" He stopped at the look on his sister's face, "Oh. Right. Yes..." He glanced back at Erik, "Well, I'll see you around?"

"I believe so," Erik replied as Darwin finally made his way up to the chess team table, still steering Alex around with him.

The dark skinned teen considered the group around the table and nodded. "I like this one," he declared.

"No. No way in hell, Darwin," Alex protested.

Hank blinked rapidly, recognizing the teen that had just ran him over earlier.

"Why not?" Darwin protested.

"You really think  _chess_  is a good idea?" the blond scowled.

"Have you ever played before?" Hank asked softly.

"Nope," Darwin declared, still quite happy with the idea. "But I think now will be a fantastic time to learn."

"And so...I'm along for the ride. Thanks. Remind me to not trust your judgment for clubs," Alex muttered.

Charles offered the two one of his bright smiles, "Oh come, it can't be that bad. I'm sure you'd be good at it." He managed not to wince as Raven stepped on his foot.

"I'm sure," Hank muttered, not sure he liked the look of the pair and Erik just blinked at the entire tableau.

Alex's gaze darted to Hank, "You saying I wouldn't?"

"I-I said nothing of the kind," Hank replied, taking a small step back. Out loud he hadn't anyway.

The blond's eyes narrowed, "Okay, Darwin. I'm in."

That got a rapid blink out of Darwin and Hank's shoulders hunched slightly. "Wonderful," the dark skinned teen declared happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your note from Victoriousscarf: So, when you run into high school stories, they either tend to be "High school is the best time of life ever!" or "High school is hell." This story sorta takes more a middle ground between the two, though of course there's going to be that requisite bit of drama that must come with this age group. We'll be dealing a lot with the set of characters out of the First Class movie, but we're pulling in a lot of other characters from the comics and other movies too and just sorta throwing them all together in this setting. In fact, we're pulling some characters out of Marvel that don't come from the X-Men line at all. I think we have a total of 14 some pairings for this story over the course of the next four years.
> 
> Right now it's set up as a series of connecting one shots/two shots within this high school, so it's gonna be updated sorta sporadically as we work on it between other projects.
> 
> The last thing is, yes, we're using Chess Team cos the idea of Erik and Charles meeting at Chess Team was what set this whole thing rolling. My brother was a member of our school's Chess Team for four years and he got a varsity letter in it three years, if not all four. ((Yeah, kids on the Chess Team can get varsity/Letterman's jackets if they wanted, which I always found hilarious.)) So most of our knowledge about the Team is probably going to come from him. Cheers all and we hope you enjoy!


	2. Checkmate

Raven glanced at the classroom number and then at Hank. It was the first day of chess club and they'd had a week to settle in so far. She still wasn't sure what she was thinking about most of the people in most of her classes and she was still extremely uncertain about the German student in her brother's English class. "Charles said he was meeting us here right?"

"He claimed he was going to," Hank replied, moving from the balls of his feet to his heels several times, wearing a classical Star Wars shirt. "He seemed fairly excited about the idea of a chess club after all."

"I'm trying to decide whether that's for chess or for the people in the club," she muttered in response as they entered the classroom.

Charles was already there, perched on one of the desks. He offered them a smile, "Hank, Raven! There you are."

"I would hope the chess," Hank muttered before offering Charles a smile. "Hey."

"How are you today?"

Raven shrugged, "Still getting the hang of a couple of classes."

Hank nodded his agreement. "Certain classes have been quite interesting," he admitted. "But at least I finally am in a higher math course.

"Which isn't really a surprise," Raven remarked, perching on a desk in the row next to her brother.

Hank chuckled. "Maybe not. Mr. Logan is a very... scary, fascinating man."

Charles tilted his head on one side, "Mr. Logan? I think I've heard some people talking about him."

"Talking, or  _talking_ , Charles?" his sister looked skeptical.

"Both," came the frank reply.

"Do I want to hear this?" Hank asked, tilting his head and glancing around the room. Few students were there yet, but a blonde girl in spotless white clothing was sitting at a corner desk inspecting her nails.

"Some people think he's got literal bodies buried in his basement. Usually it's got some aspect to it being a student who failed an exam or some such rubbish. My opinion is that he's failed half of them," Charles explained, glancing to the door every couple of seconds.

"I think Mr. Logan takes a personal joy in failing students he doesn't like," Hank replied, looking toward the door. "Are you waiting for someone, Charles?"

He turned his gaze back to Hank, "Hm? Oh, no, just the coach."

Raven looked skeptical at that, "Right. How are classes for you, Charles?"

"Oh, you know, decent. I'll do well enough. English has some interesting reading and I like the teacher there. She's quite cheery."

"Have you seen that one exchange student much?" Hank asked, trying to keep his voice light.

The smaller boy smiled at that, "Well, he's in my English class. And he's got some great ideas, I just wish he'd share some of them more often."

Raven's eyes widened, her voice dropping to a hiss, "Charles Francis Xavier! Are you out of your goddamned mind?"

Hank glanced between them. "You're reading his ideas from his mind?" he asked, voice dropping in shock.

"I don't mean to! You know I need someone to focus on or I deal with too many minds, and I can hardly focus on Miss Pryde's without taking unfair advantage of that."

"But the student you barely know!" Hank protested. "I mean, the honestly sortta creepy student you barely know! It's one thing when it's Raven or I—"

Charles opened his mouth to protest, but Raven cut him off, "No. You can lock onto us for other classes so you can do it for that one too. You know better than this."

"Why are you?" Hank asked softly. "Why focus on him?"

"I...I don't know. He's got...his mind's different. Even if I don't mean to, it's really easy to sink into it. It's...it's got sharp edges to it, but it's partially because of that guard. I don't know how to explain it, Hank," Charles answered quietly, looking chastised.

"Well, you might want to consider it," Hank replied. "Possibly very hard."

"I'll try," the telepath finally conceded.

Just as Hank glanced over at Raven to back him up on this the door opened again and the angular German they had just been discussing walked in, sweeping the room with his gaze.

Charles felt his sister's hand on his arm to give him a physical link even as he offered Erik a smile and a half wave as the other entered.

For a moment the tall teen in a dark turtleneck considered before walking over. Hank leaned back slightly at that, a little unsure about being confronted with the other teen. "Hello," Erik said, voice low and just a little raspy.

Raven glanced at Hank, sending very loud mental calls of "Charles, behave" toward her brother. Charles' smile meanwhile brightened a bit, "Hello, Erik. How was your day?"

The taller teen lifted his shoulders and let them fall again. "Uninteresting, so far," he replied. "And your day?" His grey eyes glanced toward Hank and Raven before centering back on Charles.

"It's going quite well, classes were relatively enjoyable and it's always nice to have the chance at something new," he replied.

"Are you new to chess?" Erik asked, interest finally seeming to show up in his expression.

"Not to chess, but playing it competitively is new. And I haven't played in a while."

"Well, I suppose revisiting old skills does one well," Erik said and Hank cleared his throat quite loudly, Erik giving him a considering look again.

"What, no one's going to introduce us?" Hank asked innocently enough.

"We already met," Erik said, looking him over.

Charles startled slightly at that, blinking at Hank for a moment, "Yes, well..." He offered his sister and friend a sheepish look.

Raven just offered him a scowl before looking at Erik, "How long have you been in town?"

"We moved here in July," Erik replied, not offering much more than that.

"From?" She pressed, ignoring the look her brother gave her.

"Germany," he said. "Or do you want more specifics on that as well?"

Raven shrugged, crossing her legs and resting her elbows on her thigh, "Well, come on, no one knows anything about you. No one's moved here in years. Can't help but be a bit curious."

"Be curious about someone else then," he said. "I hardly have an interesting story."

"Who'd you move here with?" Hank asked, sitting on one of the tables and long legs swinging slightly.

"Hank, Raven..." Charles sighed, "He asked you to leave off."

"No, he told us to. And when was the last time I did something someone  _told_  me to do?" Raven glanced at her brother.

"Three days ago," her brother answered.

"How did I not hear about that?" Hank asked, head whipping around as Erik blinked at that exchange.

"It was me telling her to finish her science homework so we could go for a ride on the lake," Charles answered.

Raven shook her head, "Doesn't count there was a reward involved."

"Science homework isn't bad either," Hank said, not mentioning that homework in itself would probably count as the reward for him.

The girl laughed, shaking her head, "Well, that depends on who you ask. I just didn't want to do it."

Erik looked between the three and around the room. "The club is to start today?" he asked.

Charles nodded, "That's what I'd heard. The coach should be here soon."

Erik nodded, looking around the room before considering Charles quietly.

Alex Summers entered the room, his brown eyes sweeping around the room and his eyebrows rising when he spotted Hank's shirt. He strolled over and slouched down in one of the seats somewhat nearby.

Darwin followed quickly on his sheet, beaming quite happily at the general room before giving his boyfriend a hard look. "Come on Alex," he tried to soothe. "Don't sulk."

The blond looked unimpressed, "I'm not sulking. I just don't see why I agreed to this. Spending my afternoons playing chess with geeks and company."

"Be nice," Darwin added quickly. "But you did agree to this. It's just checking it out you know."

"Right, yeah," his gaze darted to Hank. "Some shirt."

"I like it," Hank returned, refusing to take those words in the way he was sure the blond intended them.

"Then why didn't you wear it last week?" Alex responded.

"Because I told him not to so assholes like you wouldn't make snap judgments," Raven answered, her expression bordering on dangerous. She glanced at her brother at a quiet reprimand.

"Raven," Hank said softly before glancing back at Alex. "So, yeah, that was part of it. But honestly I hardly need to wear the extent of my wardrobe in one week anyway. Why, do you only have the same clothes that you wear all the time? It must get quite wearisome wearing the same things."

Darwin looked for a moment like he might laugh, but stepped on Alex's foot instead, trying to get him to calm down.

Alex's hands clenched, but he managed to bite his tongue on that topic. However, when a lanky brunet entered the room he couldn't keep quiet. He turned to Darwin, "What the hell is he doing here?"

Hank glanced back at that, trying to clamp down on any leftover anger he felt.

Meanwhile, Darwin also blinked at the newest teen. "Maybe he likes chess?" he offered.

"Right, sure he does." Alex was on his feet and headed in that direction, "What are you doing here?"

"I've been meaning to check it out all of last year," the other answered.

"Sure, Scott, and I decided to grow wings tonight. Why are you here?"

Scott looked down at his younger brother and shrugged, "I already told you."

"You. Who functions on such a routine I'm pretty sure you're a robot decided to change that up to add a new club to your résumé? Why?"

"Because I wanted to see if my circuits could handle it," Scott answered dryly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see about making friends with the people in my grade. You might give it a try yourself." He headed for a different part of the room at that, nodding and smiling to some people he knew from other clubs.

Darwin was trying hard not to crack up at that. "Come on, Alex," he said softly. "It's not so bad your brother's here, right?"

Alex turned to his boyfriend, "Right, because the two hours of the day that I might have been able to have that didn't involve him now involving him is a good thing."

"It's not like he's gonna be here every day," Darwin said. "Besides, you can always hide at my house."

"Right, yeah, great." Alex sighed and settled back into the chair again, ignoring the looks that he was getting from some of the other students present.

Darwin patted him on the arm, looking around. "Well, if nothing else, it looks like we have a fairly interesting group, don't you think?"

Hank and Erik both looked unimpressed with that idea.

"Yes, the entire room is filled with  _energy_ ," Alex's words held more venom than he intended. Charles' brow arched at that and he glanced toward Raven who just shook her head and promptly turned to dig through her book bag for something.

"Don't you think you're contributing more than enough to that?" Erik asked, arching one eyebrow.

"Did it sound like I was talking to you?" the blond snapped.

"As I was saying," Erik drawled, leaning against a desk and playing with a metallic pen—it was hard to tell from the distance it really was metal.

Alex could feel his temper, and by default his temperature, rising and he took a couple of deep breaths, trying to rein it in again. He glanced past Erik to where he could see his brother. Scott was watching him, calmly, but there was a flicker of concern in the set of his brother's jaw. Gritting his teeth, Alex offered Erik a tight smile, "Maybe so."

Glancing at Charles, Hank arched a brow, as if asking him what he thought about all of this. Erik just chuckled, the sound very low. "Calm down," he suggested. "You'll live longer."

"Mind your own business," Alex retorted.

Charles had his head tilted on one side, a slight frown on his features as he let the emotions in the room sweep over and around him. He shrugged when Hank glanced at him, if he sorted it out he'd explain later.

Just at that moment the door opened again, a very tall man walking through with a beaming smile, several files jumbled up in his arms and what looked like a chess board in a box. "Sorry I am late," he said, a faint Russian accent in his words.

Raven's brows rose at the sight of the chess team coach. He certainly wasn't what she'd been expecting.

"I had to find some things, and deal with a few last minute meetings," he was explaining, trying to set his objects down without dropping all of them before straightening. "I am Piotr Rasputin, and I hope everyone is here for chess club?"

He received a round of nods and yeses at that, even Alex looked a bit intrigued by the teacher.

"Excellent!" he said, clapping his hands. "Now, we have to be nice to this classroom since we're not actually using mine. There's too many things drying on the tables at the moment for that, and I thought this would be safer," he nodded to himself, looking around. "I see a couple faces I know, and a lot that I do not. So, I think we might start by pairing off and seeing what everyone knows about chess?"

Raven paused for a moment before raising her hand, "Will you be pairing us off or are we pairing ourselves off?"

"I think it might be better if I did," he said, still smiling quite contentedly. "Who here actually has chess experience?"

A few hands went up, Charles, Raven and Scott among them, though Scott's was a bit more hesitant.

The blonde girl in the corner's hand didn't bother to go up, sure Piotr recognized her. Hank paused before his hand went up, Erik's also rising though he looked quite lazy about the matter. Mr. Rasputin counted under his breath before nodding. "Alright then. Emma, if you could go with Mr..." he gestured to Scott. He paired the others off by pointing, Hank's heart nearly stopping when he was put with one Alex Summers. Oh this would be brilliant.

Raven blinked for a long moment at the teacher, before rolling her eyes and glancing at Erik. Alex considered the merits of simply walking out and finally decided it probably wasn't worth the effort.

Darwin nodded happily enough to Charles. Piotr finished his selections and clapped. "Alright, everyone, across from each other, and I'll pass out the boards, alright?"

The students moved around, finally getting settled like he'd instructed.

Raven settled across from Erik, "So, if I ask you questions about yourself will you answer them or will I have to rely on gossip?"

"Is there gossip already?" Erik asked, carefully setting out the black pieces. "I might be most interested to hear what that has to say first."

"Nothing of real note yet. I expect there will be soon, after all you're a novelty," she answered, her attention on setting the white pieces up.

"I always wonder about the idea of a human being being a novelty," he remarked. "What would you even care to know?"

"What made you move here?"

"My mother's work transferred her," he replied just as simply, not mentioning she had requested the transfer after his school called in a panic after the metal in the gym had started twisting one day. But on the surface the statement was entirely true.

Raven nodded, making the opening move of the game, "Do you like it here so far?"

"It is... quiet," he replied. "I'm not entirely sure beyond that."

"What was it like where you're from?"

He paused and shrugged. "It is hard to say. It was a nice enough place to spend time but I do not terribly miss it."

She nodded slightly, "Where do you live around here?"

"That is a little bit inquisitive, don't you think?" he arched a brow, moving a knight. "But it is in suburbia if that answers what sort of home I come from."

Raven shrugged, "Maybe it is. You're welcome to reciprocate with questions if you like."

He shrugged. "I prefer to find things out in a more traditional manner. Which is generally by getting to know someone first." That got another pause as he considered. "What is your relationship with Charles?"

"And you would get to know someone without questions, how?" She shook her head, moving her king-side bishop, "He's my brother."

"I would know them by what they say and how they act first," he returned. "You two appear the same age, in the same grade. Are you twins?"

Raven shook her head, "No. I was adopted when we were seven."

Moving his queen to take one of Raven's bishop, Erik nodded. "He seems a good brother. Or you seem a good sister."

"I like to think it's a little of both. I really don't know what I'd do without him as a brother," she admitted, considering the board. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No," he said and didn't elaborate.

Raven paused at that, but nodded, moving one of her pawns.

"So, there's no gossip yet?" he asked, grinning ferally at her to change the subject.

She looked up, smirking, "Oh I'm sure I could dig some up by the next time I see you if you'd like me to. I just haven't been listening much."

"I am sure it would be interesting to hear," he said. "Check."

Raven moved her king out of danger, and nodded, "Gossip about oneself usually is."

"What sort floats around you?"

She looked at him for a long moment, "You said you've been here since July and you still haven't heard the gossip about the Xavier family?"

"I don't usually pay attention," Erik shrugged.

Raven thought for a moment, finally nodding, "I'll tell you what, you see what gossip you hear about me and I'll do the same for you and we can compare notes next time we see each other?" No way in hell she was letting him in on the rumors that he hadn't heard yet.

"There will be a next time then?"

"Well, I'm assuming you'll be at another chess team meeting? Am I wrong?"

Erik's eyes drifted over. "I am sure I shall come back," he replied with a shrug.

"Then if you'd like we could always see about an exchange of information then," Raven proposed again. "Check."

Erik quickly moved his king out of danger. "Do you play chess with your brother?"

"Some, though we haven't as much in the last year or two," Raven answered. "Dad taught us both."

Considering, Erik nodded. "Why did you stop? Or lessen even."

The girl hesitated, "I guess we got busy, got into our own things more than just hanging out the two of us."

"A tradition you might want to re-establish," he said with a shrug. "Checkmate."

She looked over the board and then smiled faintly, "Certainly looks like we should, yes."

"Practice makes better," he said with a smirk, leaning back.

"Good game, anyhow," Raven answered. "I'll see if I can talk Charles into getting Dad's old chess set out maybe."

"Perhaps," Erik nodded. "It might do you both good." Piotr appeared, looking over the game quite happily and writing their scores down before moving on. "He is... a very happy fellow," Erik said slowly once he was gone.

Raven turned to watch him go, nodding a bit, "He does seem to be...rather cheery."

"What does he teach again?"

"Art I think? Not sure. I can always check, but I think it's art."

Erik nodded at that, looking around the room and considering the other games that had been going.

Emma Frost considered the brown haired boy across from her. She was vaguely aware of him, and pretty certain he might be in her own grade. She didn't even bother to ask him which color he might like, setting up the white pieces.

Scott arched a brow slightly at that, setting up the black pieces and watching Emma from behind his red sunglasses. He was pretty sure they'd had a class together the year before, but he hadn't ever really interacted with her.

Once the pieces were in place, she moved a pawn forward, the classical opening move before letting her eyes drift back up to him.

He responded with a similar move before looking up again, "I don't know if we've ever actually met."

"Not officially," she replied, moving another piece without offering anything else.

He blinked at that, not that she could see it, moved another piece, and fell silent.

"I didn't really expect you to show up here," she said after a couple more moves.

"Really? Any particular reason?"

"You don't seem the type," she said with a shrug.

"There's a type?" Scott sounded skeptical as he moved one of his knights. "I meant to check it out last year, but got tangled up with some other things."

"He's the type," she said, pointing at Hank McCoy. "You don't seem it is all."

That earned a ghost of a smile, "I like strategy, things that make me think, and that keep my mind sharp."

She made a humming sound at that, considering the board again and taking one of his rooks off it. "You act too charming to be a strategist."

He countered by capturing one of her bishops, "Isn't that the beauty of it, though? Not being what people expect when they see and hear you?"

That got a faint, but cold smile from her. "I suppose so."

Scott considered pursuing that, but backed off, "If you're saying I'm not the type to come here, then it begs the question of how you are?"

"Don't you know?" she said, picking up her queen and shaking it at him a moment before using it to take his knight. "I'm the white queen. I'm expected to be cold and calculating and entirely a strategist."

He moved a pawn and shook his head, "So you play to people's expectations and enjoy it, then?"

"You could say that," she said. "Though I think they expect me to be a cheerleader instead."

"Pretty blonde girl who puts forth an icy demeanor? I'm sure that's what they expect of you. So you play chess instead?"

She offered him a tight smile. "You can still letter in it," Emma said.

"Seems you can letter in a lot of things," he replied.

Smile remaining tight the blonde nodded. "Yes. But it plays to expectations while turning them on their head."

Scott inclined his head, "Granted."

She moved her queen further across the board, looking up at him, eyes looking bored. "What about you and those glasses anyway?"

He tensed very slightly, but focused on the game for a moment, moving a pawn, "Eye condition."

"Of course," she replied, looking at him a moment and shrugging, as if deciding on something and moving on.

"Of course?" He arched a brow at her when he received that response. Not that he minded her not pushing, but it was strange not to suddenly have a host of questions about the sort and treatment and what it did to his eyes and things like that.

She returned the arched brow. "Talk about it if you like," she shrugged. "But I hardly see the use in pressing."

"No, I hardly mind. I'm just not used to people not prying. God knows everyone does."

She rolled her shoulders again. "People enjoy gossip and pressing and finding out all your secrets. I do not."

Scott considered her for a long moment and then nodded, "Fair enough. It's good to know."

Her eyes flickered up to him a moment before she moved her queen again. "Checkmate."

Charles offered Darwin a smile over the chess board as he set up the black pieces. He made certain to have his mental shields up to block out everyone else's thoughts, something he could do, but rarely did due to the trouble they were to maintain.

Giving him a grin, Darwin considered the white pieces. "Now, it's been a while since I gave chess a try..."

"Well, it's white's start," the brunet offered gently. "You know how the pieces move, I assume?"

"I remember that much," he laughed, pulling a pawn out.

That garnered a laugh from Charles, "Good to know." He moved one of his pawns, watching the other boy for a moment. For him chess had always been a double edged training, the first was keeping his opponent's thoughts out and the second was reading the other without his gift.

Considering the board, Darwin deployed another piece before looking back at Charles. "So, enjoying your first week of high school?"

"Well enough, yes. Classes look promising, though Raven would probably accuse me of hopeless optimism if she heard me say that. Are you?"

"It's high school," Darwin shrugged. "So far it hasn't been either quite the hell or quite the fantastic experience everyone led me to expect." Looking at Charles' last move he grinned. "Oh, that was a good move."

Charles smiled a bit at that, "Well, one can hardly believe all the rumors one hears after all."

"Less with the rumors and more of the grand statements by people who don't remember the time," Darwin shrugged.

That garnered a laugh, "I suppose that's true. Have any good teachers?"

He shrugged. "Eh, well enough."

Charles glanced up from the board again, "Which middle school were you at?"

"Oh, Easterton. I'll assume you were at the other one," Darwin said, still with a grin.

"Yes, I was at the other one, and yet here we are sitting across a chess board from one another. I guess the town's not as big as some people like to think."

"No town is," Darwin replied.

Charles inclined his head at that, "Granted." He moved one of his rooks, "Checkmate."

Darwin blinked down at that. "That was fast," he laughed. "Well played then."

"Thank you, you as well. We'll have you playing good chess in no time I'm sure."

"That's certainly the hope," Darwin replied, glancing over to where his boyfriend sat.

Hank sat down, adjusting his wire rim glasses as he eyed the teen across from him. "Do you have a color preference?" he asked, dumping the pieces.

Alex shrugged, "No." He looked around the room before focusing on Hank again, "I can take white I guess."

Looking at him, Hank smirked slightly. "I suppose I might as well give you any advantage I can."

Hank was really fortunate looks couldn't kill because Alex was trying his hardest with the expression on his face, "Right, yeah, sure." He set up his pieces and, once Hank was set, opened with a standard move.

"I'm surprised you know how that piece moves," Hank said, countering it.

"You really do know how to piss a guy off real quick, don't you?" Alex muttered.

"You're not used to being bullied back?" Hank returned sweetly.

Alex scowled at him, "Bullied is one thing. Picking on brain power just cause I don't keep my nose in science textbooks for fun is another."

"How is that another thing?" Hank asked, taking one of his pawns.

"Asking me if I know how a chess piece moves is like asking if I know how to use  _Google_. Just cause I don't spend all my time reading or watching  _Star Wars_  doesn't mean I can't hold my own. So back off," he all but growled, moving his king-side rook.

"Sure it doesn't," Hank said, taking another of his pieces.

Alex bristled, the urge to walk out growing stronger by the moment, but he'd be damned if he did that, "Fine, obviously it makes me a Neanderthal."

"That's your manners that does that."

"Oh,  _rude_  is it? Great, so now I'm uncouth  _and_  uneducated. Yes, I'm completely letting Darwin drag me into something again. Just because I have no inclination to ingratiate myself to everyone I meet doesn't mean..." One of his hands clenched and he drew a deep breath, moving another piece.

"Doesn't mean what?" Hank asked, picking off another of Alex's pieces.

"None of your damn business," the blond snapped, finally capturing one of Hank's pieces.

The taller teen shrugged. "Well, pressing would require me to care, which I don't. So, tell me, if you hate it so much why are you here?"

"Hate chess? Did I say that?"

"You act like you hate sitting here."

"Well, I'm sure as hell not happy about sitting across from you and having myself insulted with every frickin' breath that comes out of your mouth."

"You started it," Hank said.

"I started it?"

"You insulted my shirt," Hank said, adjusting his glasses again.

Alex gaped at him, "I said two words about your shirt. You..." He shook his head, falling silent and glaring at the chess board.

Hesitating a moment, Hank leaned back. "What did I do?" he asked softly.

"Nothing."

"It was apparently something," Hank muttered, pushing a piece across the board.

Alex moved his queen before answering, "I insulted your shirt and you came back by questioning  _me_. Not something physical.  _Me_."

"When people question my fashion taste, generally speaking they're discussing me," Hank replied. "It's a statement on who and what I am as much as anything else."

"And so you question my ability to use my brain, thanks for that."

Shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. Hank fiddled with his glasses again. "Well," he started. "I just was surprised you knew how to play chess."

"I live with golden boy," he half gestured toward where his brother was seated, "you pick things up whether you want to or not. And you really think I'd be stupid enough to show up here and not know how the pieces move?"

Hesitating again, Hank shrugged. "Maybe?"

"Right, yeah, great."

"I'm sorry," Hank managed after a moment, capturing Alex's queen in the next moment.

"Forget it. You wouldn't be the first," Alex frowned at the absence of his queen, but managed to capture a knight in response.

"Checkmate," Hank said a moment later and held his hand out over the board.

The blond surveyed the board and eyed Hank for a moment before shaking the hand warily, "Good game."

Hank offered him a faint smile as Piotr walked by, marking down their scores.

"Alright kids," the art teacher called out. "Good first class. I marked what everyone got time and piece wise and who won what. I'll see about getting some rankings up and we'll go from there the next meeting."

The students set about packing up their things and getting the chess sets returned to him before heading for the door, Alex one of the first out.

Hank watched him go with a sigh. "This will be an interesting year," he muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn never to let Darwin and Charles hang out--They're far too content and appear laid back.
> 
> As I just said this is the story we write between work on our others. It's designed to be able to stand alone after each of the chapters, but either way the posts on it will take longer than most of our other updates. In the meantime we have a stack of stories if you would like.


	3. Adjournment

Logan Howlett set his beer down on the table in the teacher's lounge, ignoring the odd looks he was getting from the rest of the faculty and especially not paying attention to Stark's eye roll as the principal rummaged through the fridge.

Kurt Wagner strolled in, glancing around before dropping into a chair at the table. He grinned at Logan, "Still drinking on school property, my friend?"

"It's still allowed," he replied, lifting the can in half a salute. "How many of the newbies do you think I'm gonna frighten this year?"

"Based off past records?" Tony said, taking a seat at the table with stolen food. "All of them."

Kurt laughed, "You can be charming when you take it into that head of yours to be so. If you wanted to, I'm sure there is at least one or two you could avoid terrifying."

"If I wanted to," Logan smirked. "Oi, Stark. Don't you have your own private fridge or somethin'?"

"You're assuming if I did, that it's stocked with food," Tony replied.

"He just misses our company, I'm sure," Kurt answered, glancing toward the door and his brows rising as the new English teacher entered. "Well, what have we there?"

Tony's eyes snapped over and Logan just groaned at the pair of them. "Ms Pryde," he said, kicking out the chair next to him, which would put him between her and the other two. "Enjoying your first week?"

Kitty Pryde glanced at the principal and history teacher before taking the chair Logan had offered, "Well, so far it's not much worse than when I was student teaching, but..." She shrugged, "I guess we'll see as the year goes on."

"You just have to learn to show people you're the boss," Logan said with a grin, taking another drink as Tony gave him a dark look across the table.

Kitty watched him, her hazel eyes wide, "Are you supposed to be drinking that here?"

That earned a sharp bark of laughter from Kurt, "The first thing you need to learn, Katzchen, is that Logan does as he pleases when he pleases."

"What he said," Logan said with another smirk.

Tony sighed. "It's a special deal with the Supe. Don't ask."

She just blinked at them, shaking her head, "Okay, I won't ask again then."

"You learn not to question things here," Tony informed her. "Especially when they're short, stocky, and Canadian."

Kitty bit her lip to hide her grin. Leaning against the table and cupping his chin in his hand, Kurt offered her a charming smile, "So, Kitty, you're settling in well and the students are doing well by you so far then? Any of them stand out?"

"I would almost say it's too early to say," she answered, a faint blush tingeing her cheeks at the grin he offered.

Logan stomped on Kurt's foot. "Any ideas?"

The history teacher yelped slightly at that, causing an alarmed look from Kitty, "Are you okay?"

"Fine, just bit my tongue."

She eyed him but turned back to Logan, "There are a couple of boys in one of my classes, really smart from what I can see, but I don't know if one of them will ever actually talk in class-which is really too bad."

"Which one?" Logan asked. He was always mildly interested in what sort of people were passing through the school.

The young teacher sought the names for a moment, "Erik Lehnsherr's the quiet one. Charles Xavier's more vociferous about what he thinks...sometimes too much."

"One of those, huh?" Logan asked and laughed.

Kitty shook her head, "I'm just worried the others won't talk and just let him do so."

"You might want to mention that," Logan said. "After all, if they don't break the habit early, they never shut up," he added, eyes straying toward Tony. "Ain't that right, Stark?"

"I'll have you know I can be perfectly quiet," Tony rolled his eyes.

"We don't believe you," Kurt tilted his head back to grin at the Principal.

"I'll talk to him," the youngest teacher said. "He seems mostly reasonable at least."

"Don't fall into the trap of thinking that about any teenager, Katzchen," the history teacher advised.

"None of them are reasonable. Some people don't grow out of that either," Logan said.

Kitty shook her head, "They can't be that much worse than adults."

"You are closer in age to them than we are, you should have clearer memories. Were you reasonable at that age?" Kurt asked her, arching an eyebrow.

"Okay, point," she conceded.

Logan glanced over at Kurt. "Speaking of reasonable people... have you heard from Warren yet today? The last I saw he had flowers."

Kurt laughed at that, "Then you are behind the times. He is attempting chocolates this hour I believe."

"Warren?" Kitty glanced between them.

"Tall, blonde, and handsome," Kurt clarified.

"Oh, Warren! Flowers for?"

"Betsy," Logan laughed. "He's been trying for two years now. We almost never see him at lunch."

"And she's never said yes?" Kitty's eyes were wide as though she thought the other woman had to be at least a bit crazy.

"It may have something to do with his reputation... and the time her brother visited from England and nearly chased him out of town," Tony replied.

"That..." She considered and then nodded, "That could do it."

"He's pretty, but he doesn't have a whole lot else going for him," Tony added.

"Look who's talking," Logan snorted.

"I could fire you, you know," Tony replied mildly.

"But you won't," Kurt retorted. "Fury would have your hide."

"I can still dream of the day," Tony shrugged.

"Stark, everyone here knows the only reason you sit in here during lunch is in the hope that Rodgers walks in."

"Rog-"

Kurt answered the question before she could finish, "Tall, blonde, handsome, and muscled. Teaches PE."

"Alright, almost everyone," Logan amended and Tony just narrowed his eyes.

Kurt grinned at the Principal, "It's not my fault that everything I just told her is true, there's no need for that look, Tony. We all know you're trying to figure out how many ways to ask him out without violating some code or other that Fury has in place."

"Fury has a lot of those," Tony sighed.

"I think there's also something about improper relations between a boss and their employee?" Logan offered and Tony waved him off.

"But when has that had the right to stand between Tony Stark and what he wants?" Kurt asked, grin sharpening.

"Exactly," Tony said.

"He was being sarcastic," Logan huffed.

"Doesn't make the point any less valid."

"Fury will kill you if you cause a lawsuit," the history teacher reminded.

The principal just shrugged. "I could probably pay the entire thing off anyway."

"Bribing your way out of trouble, how noble," Kurt smirked, tilting back in his chair.

Steve Rogers chose that particular moment to make an appearance, "Afternoon, all."

Tony's face almost instantly broke out into a smile and the stocky math teacher just rolled his eyes, glancing over at Kitty.

Kitty was doing her best not to stare at the PE teacher as he moved over to the fridge. Kurt shook his head at her and she offered him a sheepish smile. The history teacher finally offered Steve a grin, "How are classes today, my friend?"

"The same as ever, Kurt. Yours?"

"As they were last year, but with new students," he replied.

Logan laughed. "We have quite the interesting batch this year. I'd almost like to see how they handled the physical side of things."

Steve shook his head, "They'll get the hang of it eventually. Some are built for it, others aren't, like always."

"Yeah, but of them are so skinny," Logan said. "Like that one genius in my class, McCoy or something? He looks like a twig."

"He also ran the mile faster than any other kid here this year," the blond teacher responded, finally finding what he was looking for and closing the fridge.

"You're kidding?" Logan blinked at him. "Well. A man of layers then."

"McCoy?" Kurt looked from one to the other, "A math genius, you say, Logan?"

"Yeah," Logan shrugged. "Some freshman already in the highest math class we have. I have no idea what they're planning on doing with him the next three years."

"College classes?" Kitty suggested. Kurt had fallen silent for once, simply nodding.

"Something like that," Logan agreed, taking another drink from the beer can.

Steve settled into one of the remaining chairs at the table, "Well, we're headed toward the second weekend of the year, think we'll all make it again?"

"I think it would take more than a snotty group of teenagers to take us down," Logan snorted.

"I don't know, I think germs might be able to take you down," Tony drawled, shifting a bit closer to the PE teacher.

Kurt laughed at that, though his blue eyes tracked Tony's movement, "I think we're all a shade too hearty at this point for that to work all that well."

"I live ever in hope."

"Please," Logan shook his head. "I'll probably outlast all of you." That got a sharp look from Tony.

Steve glanced at the beer in Logan's hand and looked a bit skeptical, but didn't comment on that. Kitty glanced at the clock and rose, "Well, I'm gonna head back to my room I think. See you all later."

Logan waved to her as Tony glanced back over at Steve. "Anything new in the wonderful world of sports?"

Steve glanced at him, "Not really. Practices for cross country are going pretty well. We've got a solid team this year."

"Well, that's, that's good," Tony said, planting a smile on his face. "Any new members this year?"

"A couple. At least one transfer as well." The blond offered him a bit of a grin, "How goes the administration side?"

"You've heard the phrase, herding cats, I assume?" Tony replied.

That garnered a laugh, "Yeah, I'm familiar with that one."

"Well, it's worse than that," Tony deadpanned. "You people are so lucky I find this mess my calling somehow."

Kurt chuckled, but kept his mouth shut as Steve offered Tony a smile, "Thanks for that."

"Well," Tony amended. "There are some bonuses and some worthwhile people to herd."

The PE teacher grinned, "Yeah? Well as long as you like parts of the job, right?"

Tony's eyes widened slightly and he nodded as Piotr Rasputin can into the room, looking around.

Kurt looked up as the chess team coach entered. His grin turned sly, "Looking for someone, my friend?"

"What?" he asked.

"She came and went," Logan informed him, cracking up into his beer.

The history teacher leaned back in his chair, still grinning, "You only missed her by about five minutes. If that."

Piotr sighed, heading for the fridge. "Wait, did someone take my lunch?"

Kurt shrugged, "I don't know, I haven't checked the fridge except to get mine. Did someone?"

Logan gave Tony a long look. "Aren't you rich enough to buy your own damn food?" he hissed across the table where Piotr couldn't hear them.

"Usually, yes," Tony replied. "I was trying to get away from Natasha earlier."

Logan rolled his eyes. "You owe me for this," he muttered, leaning back again. "Hey, kid. You can share mine today if you need to."

Steve offered Tony a reproachful look, "I've got some left over too, if you want it, Piotr."

"Oh, no," Piotr started and Logan gave him a long look.

"Kid, do you notice how much food I have?"

"Yes?" the Russian returned.

"Eat," Logan said, planting him in the seat that Kitty had been in earlier.

Kurt grinned a bit at that, "Don't question Logan. You should know this rule by now."

"Point," Piotr said after a moment, sitting down.

"So, I have to ask," the history teacher watched the younger man across from him, "Why do you not simply wait at her classroom, you would certainly be able to say hello at least then."

"Oh," Piotr replied, eyes going wide. "I mean, I'm not... that is..."

"Try it tomorrow," Logan snorted.

Kurt grinned, "After all, you then do not have to worry about missing her at lunch, since you seem to consistently do so."

"I get distracted," he mumbled.

"Exactly. So, stop by her classroom," the other teacher encouraged. "I am sure she would appreciate it."

"If you think so..."

Tony nearly banged his head against the table, but it wasn't like he was entirely better.

Steve finally spoke up, "If we're talking about Kitty Pryde, then yeah, he thinks so. And he's probably right."

"Yes, this is one of the few times I'd advise you to take Wagner's advice," Tony said.

"Thank you for that vote of confidence, Tony," Kurt drawled. "I'm almost hurt."

"But only almost," Tony said. "So I'll take that."

"And if I was hurt?"

"But you aren't so it's wasted speculation," Tony said, standing as he looked at his watch.

Kurt grinned, but glanced at the clock, "I suppose I had best bid you all good afternoon and head back to my classroom."

"You mean in time for the kids to swarm?" Logan asked.

"I hope to get there before them, my friend."

Logan snorted. "You might want to run then."

Grinning again, the history teacher rose gracefully and offered a bit of a bow to the others, "Good day then."

Looking at the time, Piotr's eyes widened and he bolted toward his own class room, Logan following at a more sedate pace.

The next day, Tony Stark bought lunch for the entire staff room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! We bring you the first glimpse of the Teacher's Lounge and a handful of the staff. Apologies for the short update, but we figured a short one was better than none. We are still working on this one, slowly but surely, and revising our plans as we go.
> 
> We look forward to hearing from all of you and what you think! Thank you for reading!


	4. Pawn to e4

Charles entered his English class at the start of the third week of school, his blue gaze slightly unfocused as it swept around the room.  His shields had been battered during the last passing period thanks to taking a suggested short-cut and ending up in an even more crowded hall than usual.  Add that to the illusion he was casting again and he needed something to focus on. 

He sank down at his desk and massaged his temples, his mind instinctively brushing against Erik Lehnsherr's before he remembered his promise to Hank and Raven and focused, sending a grounding presence out to Hank's mind.  Raven would likely bother him for not anchoring to her today like he'd done since their conversation at chess club, but Hank was less likely to pick up his mental exhaustion over such a tenuous link.

Hank replied to the link with something he hoped would be soothing, even as Erik noticed Charles sitting down, glancing up from his book. "You look tired for third period."

Charles offered him a bit of a smile, still pulling his focus together in order to lie better, "Tired?  It was a long weekend.  And how does today find you?"

Erik shrugged, having not closed the book he'd been reading between classes but looking at the other teen. "Like many other weeks. Anything happen?"

"Nothing too strange, just spent far too much of my nights reading probably."  He shrugged, "It is just adjusting to school again I suppose."

Carefully arching an eyebrow, Erik finally marked his place and put the book aside. "I would hope them good books at least."

"They were, quite engrossing as evidenced by my lack of sleep," Charles responded with a smile, his blue eyes laughing.

Erik returned the smile with a thin one of his own. "Care to share?"

He sought quickly for a favorite that he could talk about if asked, " _The Once and Future King_.  I've read it before, but, well, it's one that I do rather love."  His gaze darted to Erik's book, "What were you reading?"

Erik paused a second before glancing at the cover. " _The Once and Future King_... only in Deutsch."

Charles' smile brightened, "Really?  Have you read it before?"

Erik paused and nodded. "I would be interested to compare the translation perhaps."

The smaller teen hesitated but nodded, "I think that could be interesting.  I have a copy in English that you can borrow if you would like."  The one he usually read was completely off-limits, but he had a paperback that he could safely loan out.

For a moment Erik's smile became more genuine. "Thank you for the offer."

"It's no trouble," Charles rolled a shoulder, still smiling, "I can bring it tomorrow if you like?"

"Thank you," Erik said, grey eyes warming.

"You're quite welcome," Charles' smile turned gentler, his attention slipping away from Erik a split second before Miss Pryde called for the class' attention.

Erik noticed, considering the other before turning his attention back to the composition notebook in front of him.

\----

Charles arrived at English earlier than he usually did and pulled out a chemistry book and the notebook he'd started the homework in the night before.  He was due to meet Cain before lunch to hand both off.  The handwriting on the chemistry work was more cramped than his normal form—the better to pass as his step-brother's.  He hated doing this—having to make a couple glaring errors to make it believable—but it might well earn him a reprieve for the weekend if his step-father kept his agreement with Cain and let him go to a friend's for a night or two. 

Charles could only hope.

Erik sat down beside him, glancing over the notebook. "That doesn't look entirely legitimate."

He startled, surprised that he hadn't heard the other approaching.  Glancing up, he shrugged, "Legitimate isn't something that comes into play much.  You going to turn me in?" He looked briefly nervous.

Erik shrugged, settling back. "Is there a reason?"

"Working ahead?  By...alright a couple years," Charles trailed off, knowing the excuse wouldn't work.

"With different hand writing," Erik pointed out and thought about his question. "Is there a reason I should not turn you in, or is there a reason you are doing this?"

"My step-brother needs to score a 'b' on this homework," he offered honestly.  "As to why not to turn me in?  I'd really _really_ rather not have another conversation about this sort of thing with a principal.  It means notes go home and no one wants that."

"No one wants that?" Erik quirked a brow and shrugged. "So you've talked to... Mr. Stark about this before?"

"Um, not exactly," Charles hedged.  "Last time it was more Principal Stark and the principal at my Junior High at the same time."

"Both of them?" Erik asked, sounding vaguely impressed.

"It's what happens when the person I'm helping is in High School and I'm not."

"Congratulations," Erik said. "At least it means you are intelligent."

"Something like that," Charles murmured.  "But I'm supposed to have this done before class starts so I can hand it off.  A weekend off for this is a fair trade, frankly."

"A weekend off?" Erik said and pointed down to the next question before giving Charles the answer. "And your answer to 2 is incorrect. Though I'm sure you're doing that on purpose."

Charles blinked at the second answer, "Actually that one I think I was trying to get right.  Oh well, it should still land a B-."  He sketched out the answer Erik had given him, "You're ahead of our grade for science too, from the sounds of it."

"I like science," he shrugged.

"It's a good thing to like.  Which science do you prefer, or is it just a general sort of thing?"

"Chemistry," he said with a smile. "Some physics, engineering. Mostly everything, though not always biology."

Charles laughed quietly, glancing at him again, "You know, I think I might have guessed that given the chance. At least some of it."

"It would probably not be difficult," Erik said, pulling his own notebooks out and settling them on his desk before looking at the homework again.

"Oh I don't know, you seem to play things pretty close to the chest," Charles answered, though he couldn't resist brushing against the outer edges of Erik's mind.  There was still something sharp about the other that he liked because of how different it felt.

Erik's shoulders seemed to tense at that brush and he frowned.  "Usually," he agreed before opening his notebook and reviewing his notes from the night before.

The young telepath hesitated, but turned his attention mostly to Cain's homework, "What did you think of the reading last night?"

"Rather dry and boring," Erik said, with a tight shrug of his shoulders. "You?"

"Dry, but not the most boring thing I've read.  I found some of the symbolism rather fascinating actually, if you dig into it," he pulled his mind back behind his shields again.

"A fan of symbolism then?" Erik asked, looking at him sideways.

"Most of the time.  Sometimes it's overused or heavy-handed.  But symbols are integral to human communication, and the ways they're used in our literature and other arts is absolutely fascinating."

"Or pretentious and over winded," Erik said.

"Alright, that sometimes too.  I take it you don't care much for symbolism?"  Charles put the final touches on the homework, writing Cain's name in a passable forgery and putting both the papers and the textbook back in his bag.

"It is best to speak plain," Erik said. "Instead of twisting around and playing with words. Yes, symbols are important but hiding what you mean behind other things... it more often than not defeats the purpose."

"Sometimes it's safer to use symbols, though," Charles offered quietly, withdrawing his book and notebook for English.

"Sometimes," Erik agreed, finally looking over at him. "Safer, yes. But is it ever best to be safe?"

Charles opened his note book, his smooth, slanting handwriting filling the pages, "Is it ever wise not to be?"

"When there's something you want, or something worth fighting for," Erik said.

"And how often do you find those things, if I may ask?"  Charles kept his tone interested rather than bitter.

Erik watched his face closely for a moment before shrugging again. "Sometimes," he said, looking back to the front as the bell rang. Charles grimaced, glad to be off the subject, but wishing there was more time to talk about other things.

\----

The next morning Erik arrived before Charles. Sitting down he turned his metal pen over in his fingers several times, watching the rest of the students file in around him and not much caring for them, more focused on the pen and his own thoughts, though he was careful not to manipulate the metal at all.

Charles entered the classroom and crossed to his normal seat next to Erik.  He lowered himself gingerly into his chair and dug out his book, "Morning, Erik."

"Good morning," Erik replied mildly, looking over. "How are you today?"

Rolling his left shoulder, it was easier to cover pain if he didn't move the part of his body that ached, he offered Erik a bit of a smile, "I'm doing well.  And you?"

"Fine," Erik said, eyes narrowing slightly as he watched Charles. "Did you enjoy the extra symbolism in last night's reading?"

"Not especially," Charles grimaced.  "You remember that heavy-handed bit I mentioned last time?  Last night's reading crossed that line."

That got a short, almost harsh sounding laugh out of Erik. "Yes, I think that crossed several borders."

"There's no reason to use symbolism for a situation like that.  It's brutal, and frankly should not be boiled down to symbols, not of that sort anyhow," Charles muttered.

"Symbolism is used to mask hard truths," Erik said. "To those that would rather deny them."

"It shouldn't be a crutch though," came the sharp response.  "Not for something like that.  Not for abuses against people who should be able to trust you."

Erik arched a brow at him, feeling like he'd just poked a bruise and watched the other person twitch away in pain. "Yes. That was my point yesterday. I'd rather look at the situation than a symbol for it. It distances, it confuses."

Charles realized he might have given something away and rolled his left shoulder again, "There are some situations that call for it, but there are books that have dealt with what we read masked in symbols last night.  Dealt with it reasonably, but in its honest hideousness."

"I'd rather see the truth," Erik said, looking at him closely again.

"Truth is an ugly thing, Erik."

"It's better than lies."

Charles arched an eyebrow, "And you genuinely believe that, don't you?"

Erik propped an elbow up on the desk and looked over. "Do I look like the person who would say something I didn't actually believe?"

"No, no I don't suppose you do," Charles smiled very faintly.  "I suppose I'm just not used to people who prefer truth."

Erik shrugged. "Well, no one told you to sit there," he said carefully. His tone wasn't bitter at all but he was leaving the door open for Charles to back out if he would like.

"Just because you don't think like I do gives me no reason to move.  It actually gives me far more reason to stay here," Charles responded.  "It's...refreshing really."

"Refreshing," Erik repeated, deadpan as if he couldn't get his mind around the idea of himself being refreshing.

"Well, I mean, it's hard to explain but there's very few people who I can have conversations like this with.  Even when I can get started talking to them, they usually shut off really quickly."

"Shut off?" Erik asked with a tiny frown.

"Have you ever been talking to someone and had their eyes glaze in the middle of one of your sentences?" Charles asked, glancing at him.

"Rarely," Erik said, voice edging on cold. He usually spoke too quickly and too sharply to be ignored. "But I have seen it to mostly other people."

Charles paused, but nodded very slight, "Well, it happens with alarming frequency when I talk.  Oh, that reminds me, if I ever get to talking too much, please actually let me know rather than humor me."

Erik looked down and shuffled his notebook, trying not to think that he might not mind listening to Charles ramble. The thought felt foreign in his own mind. "I'll try," he said and cleared his throat.

"Thank you," Charles mentally cursed how very relieved he knew he sounded.

Offering him a tight smile, Erik turned to the front of the class, wishing the line of his shoulders would relax.

\----

Charles entered the classroom the next day and crossed the room, sinking into his seat and pulling out the book for the day's class, opening it to finish the last few pages he hadn't gotten to.

"That's not being a very good student of you," Erik remarked, sitting down beside him.

"I got distracted last night," Charles responded, turning the page and glancing up.  "Didn't much feel like reading this again."

"I thought a few days ago you were arguing the merits of symbolism," Erik said, the corner of his mouth twitching up.

"I was.  And then the reading for yesterday made me want to rip it to shreds.  This reading isn't doing much to change that inclination," Charles frowned.  "I'm sure I could afford to replace this copy if it came to it."

"Not afford?" Erik choked on air and looked Charles over again. "The richest kid in town cannot afford to replace a library book? How much do they charge for such things?"

"I didn't say I couldn't.  I'm just trying to figure out if I'd even care enough to replace it."

Erik thought about the before sentence and shrugged. He'd jumped to a conclusion as soon as money came into the conversation. "Right," he said, shuffling his books together.

Charles glanced at him, "Either way, it involves more trouble than it's worth in the end.  I'll just section this book away once we're done with it, I guess."

"A wise plan," Erik said, eyes still down.

"How've your other classes been going?" Charles asked after a moment.

"Good enough," Erik shrugged. "It is different, but for the most part not bad."

"Well, that's good to hear.  And you're settling in well enough around town and everything?"

Erik shrugged. "What is there about town to settle into?" he asked.

Charles rolled his shoulder, "I wouldn't really know.  I've lived here my whole life."

"Well, if you have any suggestions on where to find a decent book, it would be most useful as the only bookstore I've managed to find seems small and surprisingly trite all things considered."

"You must mean the one over on Wilson.  I gave up on that place years ago," Charles responded.  "It depends on if you prefer new or used books."

"Either, I don't care so long as there's books," Erik said and paused. "Though used is preferable."

"Then I know just the place.  On Elm, between Graymalkin and 17th street, there's a wonderful used bookstore.  It's a whole lot bigger than one might think looking at the store-front.  It's the best one I've found.  There's a couple of others I like, but that's the best of them," Charles advised.

Erik smiled then, fainter than his harsh or mocking grins. "Thank you," he said. "I have been looking for a while."

Charles offered him a slight smile in return, "You're welcome.  It's, it's got a wonderful nook with a couple of chairs and a small table.  I've taken a chess board in there once or twice, but I never find anyone to play against there."

The corners of Erik's mouth quirked. "Chess," he murmured. "Of course."

Charles paused for a long moment, "Hey, Erik?"

"Yes?" he said, looking over and wondering at the change in tone.

"Well, I was wondering, that is..."  He hesitated again, "Would you be interested in joining my friends and me for lunch today?"

Erik cocked his head to the side and seemed to consider before he smiled thinly again. "Do you think they would enjoy that?"

"I don't see why they wouldn't," Charles answered honestly.

"Of course," Erik murmured, having a few ideas himself. Hank McCoy seemed to still distrust him, though Raven didn't appear quite so annoyed anymore. "If you would like then."

Charles hesitated again, mentally withdrawing and thumbing through the book in his hands, "Only if you're sure, I don't want to pull you into something you're not interested in."

Erik watched him and didn't sigh like he wanted to. "That's not it," he said. "There's not been a glazed expression in my eyes has there?"

The other teen looked at him again, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "No, no there hasn't.  But I'd still rather not put you in a position where you'll be uncomfortable."

"Oh, I don't think I'm going to be the uncomfortable one," Erik said, a lazy grin curling across his face as he imagined one Hank McCoy's expression.

Charles picked up on the image and couldn't help but smile.  He narrowly avoided responding to the thought, reinforcing his shields again, "So you'll join us then?"

"Certainly," Erik rolled one shoulder. "Did you really imagine I would say no?"

Smile turning more genuine, he shrugged, "I didn't know what to expect, honestly.  A yes wasn't at the top of the list though."

Erik decided against informing Charles that he was a fool then. "Maybe it's a sound you should get used to," he said with a shrug as the bell rang.

"Maybe so," Charles smiled softly as he turned his attention to class, feeling better about it than he had upon entering the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! Well, temporarily. But nevertheless, here's a new entry. Apparently we needed a hiatus to get Charles and Erik talking again, and here they are. Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing from you! (And by that we mean we needed to allow time for VS to tempt her Erik muse back from the wilderness with promises of Charles and Chess and used books. He wants alcohol too and we gotta remind him he's not old enough for that yet.)


	5. Knight to c3

Pepper looked up from her desk as Tony came in for the day, "Oh, Tony, there's a woman here to see you.  A 'Sage'?  She said you were expecting her?"

"A, what?" he frowned and considered. "Oh, maybe? I might be expecting someone."

"Well, she's just outside your office door there.  Figured it was better not to let her in until I'd confirmed."

"A good plan," Tony said, flicking through her address book on the desk before moving toward his office, taking in the sharply dressed woman there.

Tucking a strand of dark hair back, the woman looked him over, her blue eyes categorizing him quickly, "You must be Principal Stark."

"Yes, of course," he said, finally pulling his sunglasses off his face despite having been inside for a while. "And you're... Ms. Sage?"

"Yes, that's correct.  You called me as regards some students and staff?"

"Yeah," Tony said, pushing the door open. "Inside please."

Sage stepped through, her gaze darting over the room before she sat down in front of the desk, crossing her legs at the knee, "So you were rather vague when we spoke, what exactly do you need me for?"

Making sure the door was closed Tony came back around the front. "Frankly? I need to know how many mutants or otherwise powered individuals go to this school. Things get out of control and I'd like to know."

"Do you wish to know what powers you're dealing with, or just a number?" Sage asked, watching him.

"Both if you can get it. You come highly recommended so I assume you can get it."

"I can, yes.  I assume you have records on staff and students?  They'll give me a better idea of where to start.  I would also appreciate a list of those that you already know of, so that I don't end up doing more work than necessary."

Tony nodded, having already prepared the scattered list he already knew. "I know, so far as I'm aware, of most of the teachers but the students are mostly a mystery," he said handing the list over.

Sage considered the list, nodding slightly, "Well, then it will simply be a matter of finding an excuse to speak with the students then.  Do you have a computer I can make use of?"

"Well of course," he said. "A room full of them even if you'd like."

"I'll just need the one," she answered with the faintest smile.  "I'll make up a list of the students I wish to see first, if you can make it possible for me to meet with them."

"Of course I will," Tony said, arching a brow. "Otherwise why would I have asked you here without preparations?"

"You would be surprised the number of places I've been asked to come that didn't have the proper preparations."  She rose, "I'll have the first list to you by this afternoon."

"Thank you," Tony nodded.

"Of course.  Have a good day, Mr. Stark," she responded.

Tony waved her off, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet on the table for a moment.

Sage looked him over briefly before turning and exiting to locate the computer she would be using.

"I hope no one expected a professional work environment," Tony said once the door was closed. Glancing down at his watch he considered the time before pushing himself to his feet and weaving his way down to the teacher's lounge, opened the door to find Logan eying Kurt in annoyance across the table.

"You're a horrible flirt," Logan was saying. "I mean, seriously, Kurt, is there anyone you won't flirt with?" Piotr was hunched further down the table, frowning at a chess board he'd set up like the game Erik and Charles had left last practice as if trying to figure out what they'd been doing.

"Ja, actually," Kurt looked affronted.  "I have standards.  And a decent self-preservation instinct."

"You," Logan protested. "A self-preservation streak? _And_ standards? Like what exactly?"

"There are four categories I will not flirt with," Kurt replied, eyes narrowing ever so slightly.  "Insane, Suicidal, a combination of the two, and Steve-looks-like-a-kicked-puppy.  I don't see that it really concerns you if I do flirt, regardless."

"Concern?" Logan shrugged, the motion careful. "And what kicked puppy?"

Kurt watched him before leaning back in his chair, appearing far more relaxed, "Ja, kicked puppy.  It's why I don't flirt with one Tony Stark.  Steve looks so very much like a kicked puppy.  Bishop and Tasha are suicidal to flirt with, it would be insane to do so with you, and Fury gains his own category of a combination of both insane and suicidal."

"Insane?" Logan asked, not quite sputtering but looking rather annoyed and Tony laughed from where he was standing behind Kurt.

"Oh, and I was wondering why you never flirted with me." Even if he didn't quite believe the kicked puppy look was something that existed.

Kurt startled at Tony's voice, turning to look at the other man, "Did you feel left out?"

"No, but I was starting to sincerely wonder about your taste," Tony shrugged and Logan glowered down at his beer.

"It doesn't run toward someone who is so very obviously caught up in someone else," Kurt responded, not looking at Logan.

"Caught up in?" Tony said, not sputtering but also looking like he'd want to. "I'm not caught up in anyone. Totally, not caught up in a single soul."

The door closed behind Tony, Steve standing there blinking at the principal.

The line of Tony's shoulders tensed as he glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, Mr. Rogers, good morning."

"Morning, Mr. Stark," Steve paused for a long moment before crossing and putting his lunch in the fridge.  He glanced around, turning his attention to Piotr, "What've you got there?"

"I have no idea what my students are doing," Piotr said. "I'm not even sure."

"Which students?" Kurt asked, relaxing more now that the topic was entirely off of him.

"Erik, that transfer student, and Charles Xavier," Piotr said and Tony's head snapped over at the mention of Charles.

"Do chess games usually end up looking like that?"  Steve frowned at the board.

"No," Piotr said. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"Well, good luck with that," Kurt murmured.  He glanced toward Logan, but quickly turned his attention back to Piotr.

"They can be very strange," Piotr said and Tony actually bristled.

"Most of the students can be," Steve replied, glancing at Tony, his eyebrows rising slightly.

Shaking his head slightly, Tony busied himself with the vending machine.

"How is chess team shaping up?"  Kurt asked Piotr.

"Pretty good," Piotr said with a smile. "I mean, there's been some so-so players," he said, thinking of Alex who was still learning. "And some really good ones, and then these two and I'm not sure what level they're playing on."

"Are the moves legal?"

"Entirely," Piotr nodded.

"Charles has been playing chess a very long time," Tony said from the vending machine.

"Well, in that case, it would seem you have two very strong players on your team then," Kurt offered, glancing at Tony.  "How long have you known Charles, Tony?"

"Technically, since he was a baby. I was dragged to whatever party his parents were throwing. In an actually speaking sort of way? Probably more like the last four years."

Kurt nodded slightly, brushing a curl of his black hair back and his fingers ghosting over the tip of his ear, "So for a substantial part of his life then."

"Yeah," Tony agreed still looking at the vending machine.

Steve looked up, his attention turning to Tony, "You okay over there?"

He kicked the machine to pretend it wasn't working as he finally tapped in the number he wanted. "Fine," he said, bending down and retrieving the snack.

Not looking like he quite believed that, Steve nodded, turning his gaze to Logan briefly.  Kurt caught the look and rose abruptly, "I really ought to go make certain my class is set."

"Just try not to flirt with the students," Logan said. "Or are they in one of your categories?"

Looking like he'd been struck for half a second, Kurt recovered and smiled easily, "That would fall under the suicidal category, my friend."

Logan didn't quite narrow his eyes though he looked like he might have wanted to before shrugging. "If you say so. I would have said insane but if you say so."

"Categories?"  Steve looked around in confusion.

Kurt paused, but nodded, "Suicidal, suicidal and insane, insane.  Anyone I don't flirt with, except for Tony, falls into one of those three.  I am quite happy with my standards, thank you," he directed his last line to Logan, something almost sharp entering his tone.

"Well if you're happy, it can't be that bad," Logan drawled, quoting some song he'd heard on the radio ages ago and never really liked. Tony looked between them, nibbling on his snack and wondering if Steve would ask what category he fell into.

"Where does Tony fall then?"  Steve frowned in confusion.

Kurt finally pulled his gaze away from Logan, "Hm?  Oh, he doesn't get flirted with because you look like a kicked puppy when I do."

That earned a long blink from the blond before he smiled wryly and shook his head, "I think I get that.  Anyone else of legal age who's on your list?"

"Fury, Tasha, Bishop, and Logan."

"You get that?" Tony repeated, leaning forward to make sure he'd heard. "What are you getting?"

Steve glanced at Tony and shook his head, "Never mind.  Where do the others fall, Kurt?"

The German shook his head, "I've already explained it once today, Steve.  I'm certain Logan or Tony, or even Piotr could tell you what I already told them."

"Fury is apparently suicidal and insane," Logan muttered.

Steve's gaze darted from Kurt to Logan, "And where did you fall?"

"Sorry, did someone say I fell somewhere?" Logan asked.

"Kurt just said you were of legal age and on the list," Steve answered, watching Logan carefully.

"You're right," Logan said, having been trying to block out the conversation. "Apparently I'm in the insane category. Hell knows why."

Steve glanced at Kurt who narrowed his eyes, "I don't explain my reasons, I just put them in categories.  Good morning, all, I'll see you later."  With that, the history teacher turned and headed for the door.

Logan shrugged and rolled his shoulders back from where they'd hunched over, paying more attention to the newspaper than anything else as Tony watched Steve. "So," he drawled after a moment. "What's not surprising here?"

Steve looked toward Tony, blinking, "What?"

"Well, apparently you look like, what, a kicked puppy?"

"When he flirts with you," he confirmed.  "What's there to explain about that?"

"Well, _why_ do you look like a kicked puppy is a good start," Tony said, popping another snack into his mouth.

"Didn't Kurt and I both just say that?" Steve hedged, regretting ever agreeing with Kurt.

"You both said it, but that hasn't touched the motivation of it," Tony said, frowning slightly and crossing his arms over his chest.

He briefly wondered if there was a way to retreat from this, but decided he might as well deal with it now.  "Well, that is," he paused, "What do you say to dinner Thursday?"

Piotr and Logan both froze, slowly looking up to see the flummoxed expression on Tony's face. "Um," he managed and paused again. "What?"

Steve met Tony's gaze steadily, though that retreat was looking more tempting, "You asked my motivation and I asked you to dinner."

"That sounds an awful lot like a date," Tony said, carefully and Logan wanted to throw something at him.

"That's a no then?"  Steve blinked once and drew back, straightening and letting his gaze move to the clock.

Tony opened his mouth to say he didn't date, closed it again, and opened it to say yes and couldn't quite manage it.

Steve's blue eyes turned back to Tony and he nodded slightly, "Alright, well it was worth asking I guess."

"That's not what I was working toward," Tony managed finally and ignored when Logan finally hurled a pencil at his chest, catching it before it fell.

"Well, when you figure out what you were working toward, let me know, yeah?"  Steve said, only halfway aware of the other people in the lounge.

"It's not," Tony started. "I mean, I think you're—no that's not going to be right either."

"I asked rather out of the blue.  You don't have to give me an answer now, Tony."

For another second Tony's jaw worked. "Where?" he asked finally.

"Where?  I...I guess I hadn't thought that far ahead," Steve admitted ruefully.

"Well, you figure that out and we'll talk."

Blinking at him for a long moment, Steve finally recovered his ability to think again, "There's a Chinese place on Wilshire?"

Tony considered, deciding to keep his first comment about how unclassy the place was to himself. "Sure," he said finally.

Steve offered a hesitant smile, "So Thursday then?"

"Yeah alright," Tony said and then paused. "Why Thursday?"

"Why not Thursday?" Steve answered.  "I'm headed out of town for a couple days after school on Friday."

"Fair enough," Tony said after a pause, not adding that Friday made a better date night because if something went wrong there at least would be a few days reprieve. Or, alternatively, two days to stay in bed. Though Tony usually expected things to go wrong when they mattered.

"I mean, if Thursday doesn't work for you, we could find a time later," Steve murmured, willing to give Tony an out if he wanted one.

"No, it's fine," Tony said and started to retreat for the door.

Steve nodded very slightly again, murmuring, "Take care, Tony."

"Yeah, you too," Tony said, sounding distracted.

Watching him go, Steve sank into one of the chairs and glanced at the clock.  There was still a bit of time before he needed to get to the gym for his first class of the day.

"That went well for you," Logan remarked dryly, Piotr slowly looking up from where he was pretending to pay attention to his chess board.

"Don't start, Logan," Steve muttered.

"Did I start?" Logan blinked.

Steve looked at him for a long moment before sighing and shaking his head, "This is going to be a disaster..."

"It doesn't have to be," Logan pointed out.

"Doesn't mean it won't be.  I was not planning to ask him to dinner today, or frankly this week," Steve replied, rubbing his eyes.

"Then when were you ever going to do such a thing?" Piotr asked.

"Maybe never, who knows.  But not like that, if I ever did."

Logan blinked sideways at him. "Well then it's better you got it out there rather than pretending you never wanted to. Please tell me you didn't sit around daydreaming about what you were going to say."

"God no, nothing like that.  But having it come up because of who Kurt _won't_ flirt with certainly wasn't my ideal," Steve answered with a grimace.

"At least it's a language Tony understands," Piotr pointed out.

"I suppose that's valid."  He paused for a moment and glanced at Piotr, "Have you ever gotten around to asking Kitty at all?"

"Have I?" Piotr jumped. "I didn't realize I was planning to."

"Have you at least seen her at lunch by now?" Steve changed the question.

"Well, yes," he said, not quite blushing and Logan sighed.

Steve's lips curled into a faint smile, "Well that's something."  He glanced at Logan and decided any questions were best left unasked.


	6. Bishop Takes Knight

A week after classes returned from Winter break, Alex pushed his way into the classroom where they held chess club, his temperature and temper both running high, "Oh leave off.  Last goddamn thing I need today is someone telling me to calm down, got it?"  He saw his brother start to rise from where Scott was already there and shot him a glare, "Give me a reason, oh paragon of a student.  One fucking reason I dare you."

"Alex," Darwin said, stepping in behind him and carefully closing the door. "It's not that bad."

Alex whirled to face him, once he'd seen Scott sit down rather than start a fight, "Not that bad?  Are you serious?"

"It's nothing to get worked up about," Darwin shrugged.

"Nothing to— Did you hear that asshole out there?"

"So who cares?" Darwin shrugged and Hank slowly looked up and them over from where he was playing idly against Charles. "It's his issue, not yours."

Alex scowled, "Not my issue?  Maybe you're right.  Maybe I should focus on the other things.  Like the fact that every fucking teacher I have thinks I should be scoring A's and a model student because guess who they had last year?"

"That's still their issue," Darwin said after a pause. "Or Scott's. Still, it's not yours to worry about."

"Except when it becomes mine," his boyfriend snapped.  "You know what?  Fuck this.  I'm done."

"Fuck what?" Darwin frowned.

"This," he gestured in general at the room before waving a hand between them, brown eyes narrowed.  "But mostly this."

Darwin paused, his brows twitching together. "This," he said, repeating the gesture. "Is something to be sick of?"

Alex's hands clenched, "This isn't working."

Darwin looked at him for a moment, the other students in the room dead silent before he took Alex's upper arm in his hand and pulled him back out the door. "We need to talk."

Alex yanked his arm away from Darwin the second they were out of the room, "Get off."

"That's sweet of you," Darwin remarked, dropping his hand quickly.

"God fucking damn it, do you never lose your temper?"  The blond took a solid step back, crossing his arms.

Watching him, Darwin shrugged finally. "I try not to," he said.

"Well isn't that just great for you."  His entire body was still radiating excess heat, "I don't need you to fix me."

"Fix—" Darwin actually choked. "You think I'm trying to fix you?"

"Why not?  Everybody else in this goddamn school is."

"Have I ever been everyone else?" Darwin asked, arms crossing over his chest and leaning back slightly. "That's _really_ sweet of you to think that you know?"

Alex's hands clenched in the sleeves of his shirt, where his arms were still crossed, "Well what the hell do you call what you were doing then? You sounded like _Scott_."

"I sounded like Scott?" Darwin gaped at him. "I was telling you not to get worked up because it's _their_ issue and it reflects badly on them not you."

"Yeah, because that's so goddamned easy!"

"I never said it was easy," Darwin ground out.

"What the hell do you want me to do, Darwin?"  Alex snapped, his eyes narrowed.

"Nothing," Darwin replied, voice strained. "I don't know. I want you to be happy, actually, which you so rarely act like you are."

"Well, that's not likely to change, so you might as well give up now."

Jaw tensing Darwin just looked at him. "You're not happy?" he asked cautiously.

"Should I be?" Alex responded curtly.

"Well what is there to be so damned unhappy about?" Darwin snapped, temper slowly building to the surface.

"What the fuck does it matter?"

"If there's something to be unhappy about," Darwin said slowly. "Then it makes sense to be unhappy. But what _is there_?"

"The fact that Scott and I have changed homes three times in as many years because I'm a problem child and he won't let me end up alone after the first home, we've been lucky that we're in the same town and district. The fact that I have to see a fucking counselor once a week.  The fact that I can hear people talk when I walk past. The fact that when I want to vent my fucking boyfriend tells me to calm down and that it's other people's problem.  That enough reason for you?"

"But that's just it," Darwin said. "If you only focus on those reasons how can you move beyond them?"

"Maybe I'm not ready to move past them.  That ever enter your mind?"  Alex growled.

"So I'm just supposed to sit here and listen to you moan about it every day?" Darwin asked.

Alex's eyes widened and he took a half step back, though his tone was venomous when he spoke, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I wasn't getting over my issues fast enough."

"Alex you," Darwin started and bit off the string of curses he would like to give. "That's not what I meant, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he muttered, finally looking away, vaguely confused by the fact that no one had come into the hall since they'd been there.  "Look, Darwin, I can't do this.  I've thought I was doing better, but I’m not.  I'm still fucking things up and I sure as hell don't want you getting caught up in the shitstorm that’s my life and my temper, but you do and I hate it."

Hesitating a moment, Darwin reached forward to pull Alex against his chest, waiting for the other to protest. "I am still sorry then."

Alex stiffened, his hands coming up to push against Darwin's chest, "Seriously, don't.  I don't want you to be, you don't have a reason to be."

With a sigh, Darwin let go. "If it helps, I'll always be your friend. You can't actually get rid of me."

Alex finally offered him a ghost of a smile that didn't come close to his a genuine one, "I... thanks.  I'm," he drew a deep breath and looked toward the chess club room, "I'm sorry about this.  I'm sorry about what happened in there, and I just..." Shaking his head he looked back at Darwin.

Darwin shrugged slightly. "It's what happens you know? But I'm seriously not going anywhere, you never get to think that."

"Thanks.  I..."  He paused again, "I think I'm going to skip out on club today though.  Don't think it's a good idea for me to be around people, y'know?"

"Most people," Darwin agreed. "Do what you got to do, Alex."

"I'll see you tomorrow then?"  Alex asked quietly, his tone uncertain.

"Yeah, of course," Darwin said, offering him a smile and wondering if the claim they weren't working was going to hold up and feeling like it might.

Alex returned the smile hesitantly before nodding, just hoping that they really could keep a friendship going—he tended to doubt his ability in that regard, "Have a good rest of your day, Darwin."

"You too," Darwin murmured, waiting until Alex had turned away to glance back at the door where Hank McCoy of all people had gathered up enough courage to make sure there were no bodies in the hallway.

Alex paused briefly when he saw Hank out of the corner of his eye, but shook his head and headed down the hall, turning left toward the main doors.  He planned to walk home and give himself some time to cool off before dealing with anyone else.

"Is everything—?" Hank started.

"You could follow him," Darwin said and Hank stared at him for a long moment.

"Wouldn't he just yell at me?" he said finally and Darwin shrugged before striding through the door, Hank moving to allow him passage.

"You could try it," he said.

Hesitating, Hank finally nodded before heading down the hallway, hands deep in his pockets.

Raven looked up when Darwin came back into the room, her brows rising sharply, "You left them alone together?"

Her brother offered her a sharp look and a hissed, "Raven."

Darwin just shrugged and continued through, sitting next to Emma. Scott glanced at him, but decided it was not the time to ask.

\----

Alex paused once he exited the school, drawing deep, steadying breaths of the cold January air.

"Hey," Hank said quietly from behind him. "Are you...? Are you going to be okay?" he amended.

He startled, turning around to face the other teen, "What?  Oh, sure, always am."

"Right," Hank said slowly. "That's obvious."

Alex growled, "Why don't you mind your own business?"

Pausing, Hank shrugged slightly. "Isn't it usually considered polite to check on people? You looked like you had a bad day."

"So what? Good days aren't exactly the most common thing in the world," he muttered.

"No," Hank agreed slowly. "Still, is there anything that might improve it?"

"No, pretty sure I royally fucked up the last thing that might."

Blinking at him, Hank shuffled around for a moment before digging into his coat pocket, holding out a Twinkie to Alex.

Alex blinked at the offered sweet before taking it hesitantly, "Thanks."

"Well, I'm not saying it fixes the world's greatest problems," Hank said, adjusting his glasses. "Or, any of them really. But it makes me feel better."

That actually earned a faint smile, "Isn't much that does fix the world's problems.  But, you didn't have to come after me and you did.  So thanks."

Hank shrugged, uncomfortable with any sort of thanks directed at him. "Well, that's the only Twinkie I have with me but I'm sure the store has more."

Alex blinked at him, "You're not going back to club?"

Hank rolled his shoulders again. "I could. I could not. I don't have to."

"I was just gonna walk home," the blond admitted, stuffing his hands in his pockets and shrugging.  "Up to you."

"If you don't want company, I'll go," Hank said, slowly, as if making his mind up as he spoke. "But if you don't mind, I don't mind."

Alex blinked at him for a long moment, rocking back on his heels and something distrustful flickering into his expression, "Why?"

"Why not?" Hank offered. "You're having a bad day."

"I've been an asshole to you all year, that's why," came the response.  "I don't get you."

"Maybe I like being mysterious," Hank said, offering the ghost of a smile.

Alex's lips quirked upward, "Well, then maybe I don't mind you coming."

Hank managed not to comment on such a begrudging invitation, smiling instead. "Okay."

Alex started toward the edge of the school grounds, glancing at Hank, "You're strange, you know that?"

"I've been told that, with a variety of meanings, by a large number of people," Hank shrugged. "Including you a couple times."

"I don't," he grimaced, "Not sure I mean it like a bad thing this time."

"This time sounded more sincere," Hank agreed.

Alex blinked at him before shrugging and falling silent for about a block, "How'd you end up with the Xaviers?"

"I have no idea," Hank admitted. "They adopted me and I suppose I allowed it to happen."

"Huh, I guess I can see how that would happen.  Sortta.  Maybe."

"They sat down one day, Raven handed me a cookie, and I still have no idea what happened," Hank shrugged. "Though, there was a cookie. Since then she's figured out Twinkies are the best plan."

"So you've been around this town...how long?" Alex asked quietly, kicking a rock down the street ahead of them.

"Pretty long," Hank shrugged. "We moved here in... third grade or some such?"

"And you met them that year?"

"Met, was adopted by. I think it's the same thing with them," Hank shrugged. "Yes. The first day at a new school and suddenly they were there."

"Musta been nice," Alex murmured, trying to remember where he'd been at that time.  Probably still with the first home.

"Yes and no," Hank said. "But it's nice to have friends." He glanced sideways at Alex.

Alex nodded, shifting when he saw Hank look at him, "Yeah, sure can be."

"Are you going to be okay with Darwin?" Hank asked softly.

"Depends on what you mean by 'okay'.  We're going to try and stay friends, he says I'm not getting rid of him," the blond murmured, gaze focused on the sidewalk.

Hank paused. "But not... not as anything else?"

Alex shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and shrugged, "I doubt it. I was pretty harsh.  I don't know."

"You were the only one being harsh?" Hank asked, glancing over at him.

"Maybe?  I dunno.  He had valid complaints."

"Surely it's not so bad as all that," Hank said, putting his hands deeper into his pockets.

"Which part?"  Alex finally looked at the other boy.

"The you and Darwin bit," Hank said. "I mean, I don't really know about other stuff so let's just stick there shall we."

"I dunno, he's sticking around for hell knows what reason, but I pretty much did just break it off," he muttered.  "So it could be worse."

"Sounds like it could be better too," Hank said.

"Life usually can be."

"Well, when you take that perspective," Hank said and looked over. "Will you be okay?"

Alex rolled a shoulder as they reached a convenience store, "Yeah, sure.  I'll go home, have a yelling match with Scott and it'll all be fine."

"Is that a good coping mechanism?" Hank asked. "Because I was going to just offer you more Twinkies but if you want or need a yelling match I can work on that."

That actually earned a bit of a smile, "No, right now I'm yelled out.  Thanks for the offer though."

"Well, since I seem to piss you off by breathing thought it was worth it," Hank said and returned the half smile.

Alex shook his head, "Hate to break it to you, but you piss me off a lot less than most of that fucking school."

"Well, actually, that's a crushing blow," Hank teased. "And I thought I was so special."

"You are.  Like I said, you piss me off less than the rest of the school."

"So, special in the other direction then?" Hank said with a tiny frown, kicking a stone out of the way. "I suppose that was unexpected."

Alex shrugged, "Well, you said something about liking being a mystery."  He stepped into the convenience store, looking around and ignoring the cashier.

Hank offered the man a smile and a good day before following Alex. "Looking for anything in particular?" he asked, already heading toward the dessert snacks.

"Not really.  Just not ready to go back to the house," the blond answered.

"Well," Hank considered, looking around and not really coming up with anything.

"Not really a whole lot to do in this part of town, after all."

Hank tilted his head and considered. "Well, there's movies, if you're just killing time. Other than that, I'm not really sure. I usually stay in and read."

Alex shrugged, "I don't even know what's showing."

"Probably nothing good," Hank said and looked at the shelves before back to Alex. "Do you want to see how much candy we could smuggle in without them noticing?"

The blond actually grinned at that, "Hey, I'm game for that."

"Good," Hank said, hoping he wasn't blushing at all in the face of that grin. "Any preferences?"

"Skittles," Alex answered, not even having to consider.

"Just skittles?"

He shrugged, "They last longer during a film than most things, besides say M'n'Ms."

"If the goal is a complete sugar high based on how much we can get in there, I'd say this requires more than just that."

"Then chocolate too, definitely.  You have any preferences?"

"Twinkies, skittles, chocolate, oh, they have marshmallows too," Hank said, looking around the shelves.

"I don't know about you, but that would probably be enough.  Though," Alex considered the coat he was wearing that day and the pockets, "might be able to get a couple drinks in."

"Drinks, brilliant plan," Hank said turned around.

Alex let out a half-laugh, grabbing the things Hank had listed, "I'm not picky, just grab a couple of sodas, yeah?"

"Sure," Hank said, slinking away. He came back moments later and looked at what Alex had in his hands.

Considering the drink and the high-sugar content of the candy in his hands, Alex's lips curled into a bit of a smirk, "Well, shall we see if we can pull this off then?  I've got enough for a matinee ticket and half of this on me."

"Good," Hank smiled. "Let's get this going then. Sugar rush, thy name shall be ours."

Paying for the snacks, they left the convenience store, Alex already setting to work on secreting the sodas and some of the other things in the large pockets of his coat, "Next trick is hoping there's a movie showing right now rather than, y'know, an hour from now or something."

"There's usually something," Hank laughed. "Trying to get the kids after school you know."

"Nah, I don't really know.  Don't get to the movies much," ever was probably a more accurate term.

"Don't you like movies?" Hank looked over.

"Sure I do," Alex glanced at him.  "It's just cheaper to rent them, usually."

"But it's also the experience, sometimes," Hank said. "I mean, it's not much of an experience, but sometimes."

"Sometimes, sure.  And sometimes it's a matter of a film being something you really want to see but aren't sure you want to wait six months or so before the DVD comes out."

"But nothing like that today?" Hank asked, stowing various candy in his jacket as they walked.

"Not that I can remember?  You heard about any you wanted to see?"

"No, so it all depends on which terrible genre you'd like to explore today," he replied.

He actually laughed at that, "Well, as long as it's not rated R we can get into it, so I guess we see what the next showing is and play theater roulette?"

"Though, perhaps not a romantic comedy," Hank said, frowning slightly.

Alex grimaced, "Hell no."

"Then we should be good," Hank said with a firm nod.

\-----

Over the first three and a half months of school, Charles and Raven and Hank had expanded their lunch companions to include several of the people on the chess team.  Which meant that when Raven found out at lunch about Alex and Hank going to the movies, everyone was within hearing range.

"Do you mind?" Hank hissed. "Keep down. It was just a... a friend thing. That I didn't realize we were friends for."

"You guys got lots of sweet things and then went to the movies, Hank.  Suddenly.  Out of the blue.  Just the two of you," she responded, ticking her points off on her fingers.

Charles looked up from where he was seated just down the table from Raven, "Hank, you—"

"He needed to feel better and I don't know, sugar?" Hank replied. "What the hell are you all even implying?"

Raven gave him a long look, "You want me to spell it out for you?"

"It wasn't a date," Hank said after a moment. "It really, really wasn't a date."

"It sounds a lot like a date you went dutch on," she insisted.  "That's all I'm going to say on the matter beyond 'God, Hank, he _just_ broke up with his boyfriend.'"

"It's—that's why it wasn't a date," Hank protested. "I just wanted to make him feel better."

Charles looked at Hank, his blue eyes piercing and looking like he knew perhaps more than he should as per usual, "Which is all very kind of you, Hank, but you two went to the movies.  It's all rather date-like, really."

"Do you have anything else to do in this town?" Hank hissed back.

"Bookstores, a park, we've even got a strip mall."

Hank considered. "And Alex would read a book? Or take a walk in the park? I don't know, don't friends go to movies?"

"As groups usually," Charles responded.

"Or one on one," Alex scowled as he sat down across from Hank.  "It depends on how many are around to go."

"See?" Hank protested, "Exactly. I mean," he paused, realizing it was Alex. "Yes. Yes that."

Alex's lips quirked upward very slightly and he raised his eyebrows at Hank.  Raven blinked between them, "Okay then, whatever you two say.  Obviously there was nothing more than hanging out with a friend going on yesterday.  Even though all you two have done all year is snipe at each other."

"Like you never snipe with Charles," Hank muttered into his plate.

"We're siblings, it's expected," she retorted.

"Raven, I do believe you already said you'd said all you were going to," Charles murmured, poking at his food and considering whether he actually wanted to eat it.

"Well, then there's Charles and Tony and while I never want to really touch that with a pole it's a friendship of unequal proportions made up of sniping," Hank pointed out and realized he should speak less.

Charles frowned when he looked at Hank that time, "That is a different matter entirely, thank you very much."

"Yeah, I'm just saying, sniping is not the indicator of a relationship."

"Didn't say it was," Raven responded.  "I do however contend that it's not necessarily an indicator of a friendship either.  At least not if it's the only thing you've been doing."

"So we're trying other things," Hank said and ducked his head down again.

Raven opened her mouth to say something else, but caught the look Alex was offering her and actually kept her mouth shut.  Alex finished the last of his lunch and rose, "See you all around."  He nodded to the others and retreated, needing to get out in the open air by himself for a few minutes before class.

The entire table watched him go and then turned back to Hank. "What? Not again," he groaned.

Charles offered him a passably innocent look, "But however are we to talk about the two of you if you're sitting right here?"

"Do you want me to leave?" Hank drawled. "I can leave. Believe me, I can leave."

"I don't mind," Darwin said from where he was sitting across from Raven. "Just so you know. If it was a date."

Raven turned her gaze to him, blinking for a long moment, "You...what?"

"I don't mind," he shrugged. "I mean, okay, I don't, stop looking at me like that. Reason thirty-four it wasn't working, okay?"

She shook her head, "Every guy in this school is out of their minds and this is why I'm not dating."

"Can I hold you to that?" her brother asked, mildly.

"Give it a year," Raven answered.

"I'm not dating," Hank tried one more time and Darwin shrugged. Raven still didn't look like she believed him, and Charles arched a skeptical eyebrow, but neither said anything further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meddalarksen: Shout out to TerminatorDiva for reminding me that this needed to be updated because people are actually reading it. This one is kind of my brain-child and I love it so dearly that it always makes me so happy to hear that other people are enjoying it.


	7. Relative Pin

Charles steeled himself before entering the cafeteria the Friday before midwinter break.  He'd had an awful night with no sleep, his shields had been under a solid barrage since the moment he'd arrived at school, and he could feel the press of minds from all the way down the hall from the lunchroom.  He drew a deep breath and stepped into the room, crossing quickly to the usual table and settling into the seat next to his sister, resting his brow in his hand and trying to focus on the conversation even as the thoughts everywhere battered at him.

Erik paused from where he was debating with Hank about chess moves and glanced over. "Charles?" he asked softly.

The telepath waved him away, mentally recoiling from the sharp edges of Erik's mind for once, "I'm fine.  Just a headache."  Raven looked at him and reached for him, but he shook his head, "I'm _fine_."

"You don't look terribly fine," Erik remarked and Hank's eyes snapped over.

"Just give me a minute.  It's a headache," he almost snapped, sensing when the people at the table behind them glanced over.

_Figures it's one of the Xaviers._

_My folks say there's something wrong in that family blood.  Too much inbreeding._

"Charles," Erik said faintly. "Maybe you should go to the nurses."

He finally glanced at the other, his brows drawn down sharply in something close to a scowl, "It will pass, _Erik_."

"If you say so," Erik said, recoiling slightly and Hank reached out under the table to touch Charles' side, quietly asking him if he needed someone to ground him.

Charles shied away from the touch, trying to pull himself back behind his shields.  The physical touch that he usually needed did nothing more than send the other person's mind rushing against his.  As he withdrew from Hank he connected with Raven and felt the last of his shields break.  Rising abruptly, he shook his head, trying to form a coherent sentence, "Maybe, maybe I should—"

And then a voice he knew well cut through the rest, _Another episode.  Dad'll just love to hear about this.  Freak's ruining the family._

Charles stumbled backward, a hand pressed against his forehead as he tried to escape Cain's mind.  He tripped, but found himself caught.  Tilting his head back, his eyes locked with Steve Rogers'. Steve looked at the table where the others were, "Lehnsherr, help me get him to the nurse."

Raven started to rise and Charles, his eyes glazed, shook his head at her, knowing he couldn't communicate the need to have her explain the situation.  She paused before sinking back down.

Erik sprang to his feet instantly. "Yes, of course."

They got Charles to the nurse, Bruce Banner looking up as they entered, "Good heavens, what happened?"

Steve opened his mouth to answer, but as soon as the door closed and there were only three minds, Charles found his ability to speak again, though his words were disjointed, "Nervous....mental break.  Top cabinet, third shelf, left side, prescription labeled by Dr. S. Strange."

Bruce blinked, crossing to the cupboards and trying to find the medication—it wasn't where Charles claimed, his memory tied to his previous school’s nurse. 

The telepath pulled away from Steve and Erik's touches, stumbling and caching himself, hand still pressed to his forehead as he tried to find a mind he could latch to glancing at Steve, "Strange, gentle, strange." His eyes drifted briefly to Bruce, "Strange, chaos, strange, too much."  Blue eyes finally reached Erik, and he almost fell backward again, "Known, familiar, too sharp, too hard."  His breathing was speeding up and Steve managed to help him onto the recovery couch that was in the office.  Charles drew further in on himself, his illusions dropping and showing a few faint bruises, "Tony.  I need Tony."

Erik's eyes snapped forward, ignoring the weird ramblings to focus on the bruises. "What?" he asked.

Steve blinked at that, "You, what?"

"Damn it, I need Principal Stark!"  Charles snapped, blue eyes fierce as he looked up at them.

"Charles..."

He curled his hand in his brown hair, "Shut up.  Too loud, too damn loud, I need Tony."  He had no hold on his power, but still attempted to reach out for the Principal before realizing how much damage that might cause.

Except Tony stormed through the door then, having gotten a report from the cafeteria that some student—most likely Xavier—had freaked out.

Charles' mind immediately latched onto his.  Bruce had found the medicine and approached, offering a pill and a small cup of water.  Hands shaking, Charles took the medication, "One pill at time of attack, symptoms suppress within the hour.  I-I'll be fine."

"Will you?" Erik said, voice dropping a few registers and eyes still on the bruises as Tony glanced over at Steve, corner of his mouth twisting. They'd gone out to dinner, almost two months ago and while he wasn't entirely sure which stupid thing he'd said had been the final straw, Steve had been avoiding him since then.

But that confrontation could wait. "You should probably leave," he said softly. "Thank you for bringing him in."

Steve glanced at Tony and then at Charles, not willing to deal with the Principal at the moment, "Are you sure?"

The student nodded quickly, "Yes.  Out, please."

"You too," Tony added, looking at Erik who turned a dark glare on him.

Charles' gaze moved to Erik, blue eyes pleading, " _Please_ , Erik."

"What the hell is going on?" Erik asked, looking back at him.

Drawing his knees to his chest, Charles shook his head, "Nervous break.  Hereditary."

Steve looked skeptical at that, but didn't say anything, exiting the office. Charles curled further on himself at the sudden influx of minds from the rooms beyond the door.

"I don't believe you," Erik ground out and Tony pulled on his shoulder.

"Figure it out later," he said and shoved Erik out the door, snarling at everyone outside to disperse.

Bruce hesitated, before slipping out as well.  Charles breathed a sigh of relief when it was just Tony, "Thank you."

Tony rolled his shoulders. "This seems a bit worse than usual but sure. It's what I'm here for."

"I-I didn't sleep last night.  I should have sent a sick note," Charles murmured, catching sight of a bruise on his arm.  " _Really_ should have sent a sick note."

"Well, we'll get you home one way or another," Tony said and paused, frowning at the bruises. "Your shields have dropped, do you know that?"

"I'll be fine in an hour.  The medicine blocks my power," Charles murmured.  He looked at the faded bruises, "I can pass it off.  It's old enough."

"That's not really the point," Tony said, crossing his arms.

"It's what matters, Tony.  It's not like the whole school needs to know."

"So how are you passing them off again?" Tony asked, leaning against the closed door and crossing his ankles. "And how many more do you have where they're hidden?"

"I'm hardly always steady on my feet—that was evident today.  And all you see is all I've got," he replied, crossing his arms defensively across his chest.

"Really?" Tony said, eyes narrowing. "Because I think I'd get fired for stripping a student but I'm currently very tempted."

"It's none of your business, Tony," Charles shot him a dark look.

"Yes, it is," Tony snapped. "You asked for me specifically. I've known you—or of you, as much as you can know a little baby creature—since I went through my destructive phases and this is not good for you."

"I asked for you because Raven has to explain to my friends why I had a mental breakdown in the middle of the cafeteria and you're the only familiar mind here!" Charles snapped, "Not so you can interfere in my life."

"Your life needs interfering with," Tony snapped. "Are you happy like this? Truly?"

"It doesn't matter if I'm happy, Tony!  But I'm fine."

"Yes, it does, and no, you're not," Tony replied, eyes narrowing further.

"Well, what the hell do you plan to do about it?  Send another Social Services rep to the estate?  I'll wipe their mind again," Charles growled.

"I'll never understand why you do that or how you think it's acceptable," Tony muttered. "But if you won't listen to social services than listen to me that you _need_ to get out of that house."

"I'm fine, Tony.  They don't touch Raven, and I can convince Cain away."

"Yeah, this looks real fine," Tony said, looking him up and down and shaking his head.

"They're old, Tony.  More than a week," Charles' eyes narrowed as he met the Principal's gaze.

"And next week?" Tony asked. "Or the week after when you get fresh ones? A year old I could deal with, maybe, but a week is not so long. Get out of that house."

"And go where?  What are you suggesting?"  He realized that sounded like he was actually considering it, "I'm not leaving Raven."

"I have a pretty big flat you know," Tony said after a moment and blinked at himself for even suggesting it.

Charles stared at him, "You have got to be kidding."

"Well, no," Tony said after a moment. "I'm actually not."

"I'm not leaving, Tony.  I won't leave Raven, and I won't leave Mother.  Not in that house."

"Your mother is as abusive as your step father and brother," Tony returned. "Raven can come too."

"She's neglectful, get it right," Charles snapped.

"Neglect is still abuse," Tony replied, eyes darkening.

Charles scowled at him, having encountered a brief part of Tony's issues when he was younger and his powers were just forming, "I'll take the neglect."

"Along with that abuse then?" Tony demanded.

"It's not like I can just pack up and leave!"

"Why the hell not?" Tony asked, cocking his head to one side.

"There's too much to get set, and besides, _they're my legal guardians_.  I leave and they can classify me as a runaway if they choose to."

"You think they'd notice?" Tony asked. "Actually, that's just firstly. Secondly, you really think they would question _me_ there?"

"They might," Charles muttered.  "I'm not doing anything until Raven says yes or no.  And besides, I have to go home after school.  And it's what, a four day weekend?"

"You shouldn't stay there all weekend," Tony said. "That would be the perfect time to pack up and move."

"Because it's just that easy, huh?"  Charles shook his head, "I've got another thirty minutes before I can go out there again, but I'm not going to keep talking about this until I know what Raven says."

"Then I'll ask Raven," Tony shrugged. "And if she says yes?"

"Then," he hesitated, "then we'll leave.  But it's not something I can have ready all that quickly I don't think."

"Really?" Tony arched a brow. "I'm sure you have plenty of people who would help you pack up."

"I...I don't want to put them out.  Just, I can't talk about this any longer right now."

The corner of Tony's mouth twisted but he shrugged. "Fine."

Charles drew a deep breath, "I need to get my mind sorted and start rebuilding my shields now..."

"Is that a leave thing or a shut the fuck up so I can focus thing?" Tony asked, flicking the lapels of the jacket he wore.

"That would be a both sort of thing."

Tony considered him for a long moment. "You realize I'm just going to talk to Raven right?"

Charles hesitated for a moment before nodding, "I wouldn't expect anything less."

"If you're okay with that, I'm off then," Tony said, inclining his head.

"I don't have much say in that, after all, do I?" Charles looked up at him, chin resting on his knees.

Tony considered. "Nope. You sortta gave that right up with the last child services person you mind-wiped. Which, by the way, we should talk about morals again at some point."

Charles' eyes widened in a look of mock innocence, "Morals?  Whatever for?"

"For the sake of the rest of the world," Tony shrugged before turned and opening the door. The young telepath rolled his eyes, but drew back against the wall when the door opened.  It was quieter, both for fewer minds and the fact that the medication was kicking in leaving his power feeling like it was wrapped in gauze.

\-----

Tony glanced around the classroom before motioning Raven out with a flick of his hand. Raven rose, slipping out of the classroom, worry lighting her eyes, "Is Charles...?"

"He'll be alright," Tony shrugged. "I mean, his headache will not kill him. Meanwhile, How do you feel about moving out?"

She blinked at Tony for a long moment, "How soon can we do so? And are you offering us rooms at your place?"

He blinked back at her. "Considering the fuss Charles put up I was sure I was going to get slapped in the face. This weekend, I have a very large, ridiculously spacious bachelor's pad."

"Are you kidding?  I've been hoarding boxes for months just waiting for Charles to catch on to the fact that you can't fix people who refuse to change," Raven shook her head.  "I can have most of my stuff packed by tonight, it'll be a matter of figuring out what Charles is bringing."

Tony nodded. "Well, I'm sure your, whatsit, Hank or Harry or Llyod or whatever boy genius is called would help. We'll get Charles pack up."

"Hank.  I'm pretty sure I could draft a couple other people, but I'd prefer to have my brother talking to me, so it'll probably just have to be the four of us," Raven considered.  "Honestly, if we go right home from school we could be out by tonight...This is sounding better by the moment."

"Tonight sounds good," Tony said, tilting his head to consider if he was supposed to remember anything before shrugging. "I'll drive you back then."

"Great.  Was there anything else or should I go back to class?"  Raven sounded like she rather hoped there was something else.

"Nope," he shook his head. "I'm a corrupting enough influence without giving you a reason to skip class."

"Damn.  Alright, I'll see you after classes then," She offered him a half salute before heading back to class.

Once she was gone Tony stared at the doorway for a second before swearing loudly and viciously under his breath. Turning, he made his way back to his office.

Pepper looked up from where she and Natasha had been talking as Tony came in.  One eyebrow arched sharply, "Tony, what's going on?"

"I," he paused. "May have done something drastic that seemed like a good idea at the time."

Natasha turned, resting a hip against Pepper's desk as she looked Tony over, "And how much damage control is this going to take? And what did you do?"

"Damage control?" he considered. "Probably a whole fucking lot. I may have two teenagers moving into my place."

"You may have..." Pepper blinked at him for a long moment, "Who and why?"

"The Xavier children," he said. "Because apparently I never need to have a sex life again!"

Natasha focused on a point behind him, her brow rising slightly, but she didn't say anything beyond, "Don't they have legal guardians?"

Steve cleared his throat sharply from where he'd come into the office and Pepper blinked, "And neither are of an age to be out from under their guardians yet."

Tony barely glanced at Steve and only straightened his back in acknowledgement he was there. "Yes, well, I think I have enough blackmail material that shouldn't be an issue. But their ‘legal’ guardians," he said with air quotation marks. "Don't even deserve the title. Or you know, to be breathing but I suppose I have to let that one go."

"Yes, the guardianship is something I can get some lawyers working on and all that, but murder not so much," Pepper nodded.  "When are they moving in?"

"This weekend?" Tony offered, eyes sliding back over to Steve.

"Do you need any help getting them moved?"  Steve asked after a moment.

Tony hesitated, turning to face him. "Did you just offer?"

The blond nodded very slightly, "If you and they need the help."

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Tony considered him. "Why'd you come in here anyway?"

"It's my planning period and I wanted to check and see how Charles was feeling?"  Steve offered.

"Fine," Tony said curtly. "Or, he will be fine. And he will deal with sudden removal. It's all fine."

Steve blinked at him for a moment, but held his ground rather than take a step back.  Natasha frowned, but it was Pepper who spoke, "Tony, he offered to help, you don't need to take his head off for it."

Tony waved a hand, trying to dismiss them all. "Never mind, everything's fine, yeah? Besides, I think Raven's already packed and we're drafting... McCoy. Science boy. Anyway, I'm going to go re-consider my life choices."

"The offer still stands," Steve responded quietly.

Pepper glanced at him and nodded, "He'll call if he needs the help."  She turned her attention to Tony, "I'll get started on getting this pushed through with a lawyer friend I've got."

"Good," he said and looked at Steve before looking at Pepper again. "I'm sorry, have I ever called if I needed help?"

"I'll call if you need help then.  You don't honestly think I'm letting you go just you and three teenagers do you?"  Pepper answered.

"Well, yes," Tony replied.

"You're going to need more than your car for moving their stuff, Tony," she reminded.

"Not necessarily and that's what the whole weekend is for," Tony shrugged.

Pepper frowned at him, but finally shook her head, "Fine. If that's what you think is best."

"Yes," he snapped. "Thank you. I like to think I know what's best from time to time."

Pepper's eyes narrowed, but she kept her mouth shut, even as Natasha turned to offer Tony a long stare.  The vice-principal shook her head, "I think you were headed to your office?  And, Steve, you know the answers to your questions, I think it's time you left as well."

The PE teacher hesitated, but nodded, "I'll see you all later."

Tony blinked first at Natasha and then to Steve before turning on his heel and stalking into his actual office.

\-----

The next Wednesday, the first day back from the long weekend, Charles carefully got out of Tony's car, slinging his backpack over his shoulders and considering the school building with a good deal less enthusiasm than usual.  He was dreading having to field questions from his friends about the incident on Friday, and there was no doubt in his mind that there would be questions—there always were.  He also had no doubt that none of his answers would be satisfactory.

Startling, he glanced down at where his sister had twined her hand with his.  Raven shook her head, "You're worrying too much.  Calm your mind and deal with things when they come."

"That's not something you usually say."

"No, but I figured you could use a dose of your own medicine.  Come on, let's get inside, it's damn cold out."

"Do I want to know what she usually says?" Tony asked, sunglasses firmly on his nose. "Well, anyway, you have half an hour to calm down or field questions. All the luck to you."

Charles offered him a smile, though it was fractionally more brittle than his normal ones, "Have a good day, Tony."  His power was fully back in his control after a quiet weekend, and his shields were stronger than they'd been in a while as he and Raven made their way into the school.

Leaning against the side of his car Tony let out a long breath, wishing he hadn't ever given up smoking.

Pepper pulled into the spot next to him and got out, looking toward the school and then to him, "How are you doing, Tony?"

"I am out of my mind in ways I wasn't expecting. Please at least tell me _you_ had a restful weekend."

"As restful as can be spending three of the four days on the phone with a lawyer.  We should be able to get guardianship changed over, but it will probably take a bit more consultation before I can say that for certain."

"Or we could just wait out for emancipated minors," Tony pointed out.

"We could do that, though it's a year for each of them, yet.  I doubt that there would be a contestation by the current guardians, but I'll keep the information I have just in case."

"Thanks," he said, sagging again. "Just, I couldn't begin to figure out which was best."

"I'll get all the paperwork set, should contestation take place, it'll be there.  But we'll see if we can wait for them to reach 16."

"Do you think I could take up smoking again?" he asked hopefully.

Pepper offered him a faint smile and a shake of her head, "No, Tony."

"You know I've never really needed your permission to self-destruct, right?" he said instead, bracing his hands against the door of his car.

"You're right, you never did.  But you've worked so hard to piece yourself back together, I really don't want to see you head back that direction again," she murmured.

He glanced sideways at her. "Don't I look all respectable like?" he asked. "I mean, have you seen my job lately? Now I have... freaking wards or something."

Pepper offered him an upward quirk of her lips, "Yes, you look very respectable.  High School Principal, and two...we'll call them wards.  Are the three of you getting along so far?"

"I'm not entirely sure I'd call it getting along," Tony said after a pause. "I think Raven is a big cat stuck in a girl's body and she's staking out her territory all over mine."

"You do at least still have some space cordoned off as yours, right?"  Pepper watched him, knowing Tony had his own territorial tendencies sometimes.

"We've been fighting it out," he said, a slow smile spreading on his face. "We'll have the battle lines drawn out eventually to everyone's satisfaction."

Pepper laughed quietly, "Well, as long as you get those drawn out it'll work.  But they're settling in—beyond Raven sprawling her territory into yours?"

"They are," Tony said and sighed again. "They needed an out and Charles seemed to refuse to take any others."

Before Tony could say anything else a tall and lanky form stormed out of the school, Charles hurrying behind him. The smaller teen was rushing to keep up with Erik's longer strides, "Erik! Erik, wait!  You've got it wrong."

"How have I got it wrong?" Erik snarled, half turning to him before whirling back on Tony. "You damned pedophile, what is going on?"

Tony blanched at him and adjusted his sunglasses. "Come again, pip-squeak?"

Pepper gaped at Erik for a long moment as Charles caught up, grabbing Erik's arm, "You're wrong.  It's not like that, Erik.  It's not like that at all."

"Then what is it like?" Erik looked between them. "Was he the one that gave you those bruises?"

Tony froze, every muscle tensing.

Charles' blue eyes widened in shock, "Wh-what?  No.  No, God no.  Tony's never laid a hand on me."

"Then why the hell are you living with him?" Erik demanded, all sharp edges and anger.

"Because he got Raven and me away from the people who gave me those bruises," Charles snapped.  "Happy now?"

Stopping, Erik slowly turned to look at him. "What?"

Charles grit his teeth, "I said it once.  Do you _really_ need me to repeat it?"

Erik’s eyes narrowed. "So who did give you those then?" he asked, voice low and taut with anger.

"I don't see that it's any of your business, actually," Charles replied, his tone carefully emotionless.

Not quite recoiling, Erik stared at him. "Right," he said, voice dropping even lower. "Of course not."

The telepath's jaw tensed, "Frankly it wasn't Tony's business either.  But he's known me too long not to know."

Still standing there, Tony sighed, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses wishing he hadn't been brought back into the conversation. "That's because you think it's you against the world, Charles," he muttered and readjusted his shades. He didn't much feel like mentioning all the other ways he knew even as Erik shot him a quick, sharp look before turning back to Charles.

Charles wrapped his arms around his torso, appearing to recede slightly at that, "You say that like it isn't."

"He's not," Tony said, pointing to Erik before shaking his head. "My office needs me," he muttered already turning that way.

Charles watched Tony and Pepper go, drew a steadying breath as though bracing himself for a plunge and looked back to Erik, "It was my step-father."

"And this," Erik started and had to swallow not to snarl. "This was something that's been happening for how long?"

"Mother remarried when I was eleven.  So, approximately three years now that I'm nearly fifteen," Charles replied quietly.

Erik blinked at him. "Three years," he repeated quietly.

"We make do with what we have," Charles responded.  "It...it wasn't so bad."

"It wasn't so bad?" Erik yelped, incredulous and wishing he wasn't parroting back whatever Charles said.

"A few bruises is a small matter, Erik.  I never had broken bones or anything worse than a scrape, and that one was my own fault."

"How could any of this ever have been your fault?" Erik asked, aghast and made a note to talk to Thor, the school counselor about abuse vocabulary.

"I wasn't braced right for that one.  I didn't have a solid grasp and the control wasn't mine that time," Charles answered.

Erik just stared at him. "You cannot be serious."

Charles blinked at him, "It's true though."

Erik's jaw worked, trying to figure out how to respond to that without becoming angry or repeating what Charles said. "It is their fault for trying to harm you in the first place," he finally growled.

The telepath looked him over for a long moment before half-shrugging, "Maybe your right.  At this point the question's academic.  I'm not there any longer so it doesn't really apply."

"Could you ever be forced to go back?" Erik asked slowly.

Charles paused for a long moment, "I can't see a reason they would try.  Tony has lawyers, and, well, I wouldn't let that happen."

Erik hesitated again. "And you're utterly certain he's not a pedophile?"

The corners of Charles' lips curled into a faint smile, "Yes, I assure you he's not."

"Alright," Erik said, tone still tight.

"Is there anything else, or can we go back inside, it's freezing out here."

"We can go back inside," Erik finally said, ducking his head down slightly.

Charles sighed, "I thank you for your concern, Erik.  But I'm alright."

"Of course," Erik murmured, crossing his arms over his chest as they walked.

"You don't believe me at all," Charles protested, opening the door of the school.

Erik looked at him sideways. "Not in the least," he murmured.

He sighed, "I suppose that's something else I should have some gratitude for."

Erik's brow quirked up. "What?"

"The fact that you don't believe me when I’m lying.  I'm not sure I much like it, but some part of me thinks I should be grateful for it."

"Eventually," Erik nodded, shifting his shoulders. "It's good to have people to call you out on your shit."

Charles grimaced, "I'd prefer they just take it at face value and leave it there."

"Then you should be walking away," Erik told him, considering his face for a moment before shrugging and turning down the hallway.

"What makes you so different from everybody else?" Charles asked, keeping pace with the taller boy.

"Not sure," he rolled his shoulders. "What about that fascinates you so much?"

Charles considered how to answer without giving away his power, "You're intelligent, you listen when I talk, you listen well enough that you can call me on my bullshit.  Even when it's obvious most people won't do that."

Erik arched a brow down at him. "That makes fascination sound mundane."

"Well, why you fascinate me is...it's difficult to explain."

"Then don't explain it," Erik shrugged.

Charles stopped, looking up at him for a long moment, "Your mind is quicker than any person's I've ever met.  I find that fascinating.  You keep up with most intuitive leaps the people around you make.  I just...I like that."

Pausing, Erik turned to look back at him. "Then I am glad of that."


	8. En Prise

The door to Tony's office opened and Sage stepped inside, a sheaf of papers in hand and a disc resting on the top of them. She closed the door quietly but firmly and crossed to sit in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Crossing her legs, she offered the disc to Tony, "That is the full results of my interviews and observations including the most likely powder kegs you could be facing if they lose control."

"And which ones are the worst?" Tony asked, looking at her over the top of his reading glasses that he rarely wore.

"The Summers brothers present a concern, as does Sebastian Shaw, one of your older students. But those are mostly in the literal sense of explosions."

She paused, pulling a pen from where she had it stuck in her bun and tapping it against the papers, "Your chess team."

His eyebrows shot up. "The whole chess team?"

Her lips curved into a faint smile, "The whole chess team."

"How?" Tony managed.

"I have no idea. None of your other extra-curricular activities come anywhere close to that sort of concentration," Sage said, shaking her head.

"Both the Summers boys," Tony remarked. "No Shaw though, that's good."

"There's rather an alarming number of powers in that club. However, you've got one of the most effective teachers in there should anything go wrong—abilities-wise I mean."

"Piotr you mean?" Tony asked. "Why's he only one of the best? I'd think turning to metal would be a huge plus with all those explosive powers around."

"If one of the other students in there wasn't a metal-manipulator he wouldn't be only one of the best."

Tony blinked before looking down at the papers in front of him. "Who maniplates metal?"

"Erik Lehnsherr. He spends a lot of his time around the young telepath, Charles Xavier I believe."

Tony slowly set the papers down. "Ah. Yes, yes he does." He felt a slight shiver in his spine, remembering the rage the teen had thrown at him in the parking lot.

"It's no guarantee that he can manipulate organic metal, such as Piotr's skin becomes, as it is not quite metal as exists naturally, or even synthetically. There are of course other students, and a good portion of your staff—though you said you were aware of most of those. You have a very large number of mutants in a relatively small school. It's surprising, I've rarely encountered such a percentage," Sage said, watching Tony carefully.

Tony shrugged. "There are, uh, actually reasons for that. Policy, some might say."

"What policy do you have in place that would bring this about?" She asked, one dark eyebrow arching.

"To actually hire them," Tony said, leaning back. "We don't seek out so much, but we do hire. The students are more of a blind bag, but so many of them get kicked out of other schools, so we take them in if we hear about it, offer their families support. The mutant problem is a growing one, don't you agree? But our policy makers would rather ignore it now. Which is good, if only that we don't have any laws yet saying adult mutants can't be teachers. Bad, in that they lack a support group."

"I most certainly agree," Sage nodded once. "You have a good school here, a good environment. A safe one, even. Or as safe as it can be in this political climate. It's a good thing for them to have a place where they can work without automatically being considered a threat to their students and co-workers. And an excellent thing for the students as well."

The corner of Tony's mouth twitched. "That's the idea. Of course, execution sometimes leaves something to be desired."

"It usually does. But you are far closer than most people who have told me that."

Tony shrugged, spreading his arms out. "Why else would I be hired as principal?"

Her lips curled upward into a small smile, "I never presume why someone is hired where they are."

"Uh-huh. You are far too professional for that. But I know how to handle crazy."

"Why you were hired doesn't matter to me in the least," Sage responded simply before leaning forward to tap a single fingernail against the disc case. "Whether you're the sort of person I can give this to, is of far more import. What matters isn't whether you can handle crazy but whether you can offer a safe place for your students and teachers. And I think you're more than able to."

"See, handling crazy goes hand in hand with offering the safe place," Tony said, watching her. "Because if it can't be handled, it can't be safe."

She nodded once, sitting back again, "You're one of those who'll take on people who would change that too."

"Yeah," he agreed, crossing his legs and folding his hands behind his head as he leaned back. "It's all carefully crafted. Or, it has been the last few years."

"You've a good school here," Sage said, crossing her legs at the knee and resting her folded hands on them. "A good faculty, strong support, even the community isn't half bad."

"That last one, sadly, I cannot claim credit for," Tony said.

That earned another faint smile from her, "No, I suppose not. But you do your part for it." She cleared her expression, "What you do with the information there is up to you. You've a larger variety of powers than I've seen at previous schools simply because of the sheer number."

"Thank you for being honest with it," Tony said. "I guess that means you aren't always?"

"I ask for a list of who the principal knows about before I start for a reason. A good portion of the time they simply receive the same list in return."

"I would have been so annoyed if that's what I got for my money," Tony said, smile sharp.

She returned the smile with an equally sharp one of her own, "More than a few of them were. But I would hardly feel I was doing the job I intend to if I endangered their students."

"I'm flattered. For once I'm not endangering people."

Sage's eyebrow lifted ever so slightly at that, but she shook her head not willing to touch that particular issue ever. She rose to her feet, "I'll be in town for at least another week if you have questions, and you of course have my contact information should it become necessary at a later date."

"Thank you kindly for your time, Ms. Sage," Tony said, tilting his head back to watch her. She nodded once to him before slipping out of the office and closing the door silently behind herself. For a long moment Tony didn't move before finally shuffling whatever files he had on the desk into a drawer and pushing his shades down as he headed for the door.

Pepper was just closing her desk down for the night, pushing back from her computer and grabbing her coat and purse, "Headed out, Tony?"

"It's the weekend right? Tell me I didn't dream that it's finally the weekend."

"It is in fact the weekend," she answered with a smile, pulling the long coat on as they left the office.

"Oh thank an ever loving god or some such," Tony said, throwing his hands up and stretching. "Do you ever think we made the wrong choices?"

She blinked at him, "I can think of a few, but not recently. Which ones are you asking about?"

"Silly things like, why the fuck did I go to work for a public school?"

"No. I don't think that was the wrong choice at all," Pepper answered simply.

"Okay. Then how about not just adopting one, but in fact two and a half mutant children?"

"And a—oh, McCoy, right." She shook her head, "Maybe not your best decision, but not the wrong one."

Tony tilted his head before giving her a grin. "Yeah? You say that now."

Pepper smiled at that, "And I'll keep saying it."

"Just wait until we murder each other, then you'll see."

That garnered a laugh, "You're not going to murder each other, Tony."

"You say that now," Tony muttered.

"You're not going to murder your wards. And they both like you enough not to kill you either."

"You say that now, but I would rather live with a healthy dose of paranoia," Tony said, stopping at his car. "Need a ride home?"

"Yes, actually." Pepper said with a smile, "Though how much of that offer was because you're avoiding the teenagers at home?"

"Pepper," Tony said, offended. "It is tradition that I give you a ride home every Friday night, even though Natasha did it last week. Have some faith in me."

"So about thirty percent then, hm?" She asked, grinning at him as she opened the passenger-side door.

"Bump it up about 3.5 and you're there," Tony said, sliding in to the driver’s seat and sighing softly. The leather seats of his car always made him feel a bit better.

Pepper settled comfortably into the passenger's seat, stretching her back as she did so, "You could stay for dinner if you think they can manage not to damage your penthouse in that time."

"Why must you tempt me?" Tony asked. "Vixen, fiend. I like my penthouse."

"Come have dinner with me, Tony."

"Oh alright," Tony said, pulling out smoothly into traffic, though he had to remind himself not to speed or take corners too sharply. Years later and it was still a constant litany in his head. "You've twisted my arm enough, I surrender."

"I was thinking of making Alfredo tonight, I've got shrimp and calamari for it, even," Pepper said, watching the landscape out the window.

"Oh my god, Pepper, I just said I already agreed there is no reason to bring out the Italian food while I'm driving."

She very nearly giggled at that, "I was making sure it was alright with you."

"Has Italian ever not been alright?" he asked.

"Not as long as I've known you."

"See?" Tony said, stopping carefully at a red light, fingers tapping the wheel.

"But it's so much fun watching you react, as long as we stay in our lane at a reasonable speed," Pepper said, her lips settling into an expression that could be neutral if not for the dancing light in her eyes.

"Why does anyone think you're a good influence?" Tony asked, pulling around to her street.

"Because I didn't have a hedonistic, misspent youth," Pepper said, digging through her purse for her keys.

"Only because you get your rocks off by tempting others rather than causing mischief yourself."

"Well of course. I can't be an upstanding citizen if it traces back to me."

"You are a menace to society," Tony said, clicking his car locked out of habit.

"Ah, you love me," Pepper replied airily as she unlocked her front door and stepped inside, shutting off the alarm and dropping her keys in the bowl by the door. Her coat and purse were both hung up and she strolled through to her kitchen, pausing only long enough to kick her heels off by the couch.

"I think that's less love and more a sense of co-dependence fostered by forced proximity for a length of time," Tony said, moving her keys into her coat pocket before he followed.

"Lies," Pepper accused, already digging out the pots and pans she would need for dinner.

"Pep, you should know by now that I don't lie," he said, rolling up his sleeves. The suit jacket had been left by the door. "What do you need me to wash and not burn by trying to cook it?"

"Lettuce. It's in the crisper drawer in the fridge." She pulled out the ingredients for the meal, working as efficiently in the kitchen as she did in her professional life—interested in excellent, but quick, results.

Tony hummed a little, doing small tasks but mostly watching her. "Sometimes I am so sad the sex thing didn't work out."

"Sometimes," Pepper agreed, stirring the sauce and checking on the shrimp and calamari. "But then I remember that we got through it and still have a strong relationship which is more than most can say."

Tony snorted. "And other times I think you are a very cruel woman. It's a complicated thing."

Pepper's lips twitched into a smile and she glanced at him, "Do you remember trying to flirt with Natasha when she first started working with you?"

Tony stared at her. "Cruel. Didn't you promise to never bring that up? Ever?"

"I don't remember actually promising that." She said innocently, "I remember promising never to bring up how you flirted with her though."

"Oh just let me stew in my own memories of humiliation? You're a charming woman, Ms. Potts."

"But you like me anyway, Mr. Stark," she replied, checking the pasta and then shutting off the burner. "Drain that would you?"

"Fine, fine," he said, bustling around her kitchen with more ease than he would ever in his own.

She shut off the burners under the other pans, taking the pasta back from him when it was drained and mixing the shrimp, calamari, and Alfredo sauce with it before dishing it onto two plates and two bowls of the chopped lettuce, "Dinner's served."

"And sometimes you are a goddess," Tony grinned. "Italian. If only it was easier to come by."

"There's a new place opening on Eldridge next month," she said, taking her plate and bowl into the living room and setting them by the couch before going to fetch something to drink. "What do you want with dinner?"

"Nothing tonight," he said. "The question is will it be good Italian food?"

She poured herself a glass of white wine and got him some water before returning to the couch and sitting down with one leg curled under her, the other foot resting on the floor, "That's always the question. Considering the location I would hope it is."

"Pretentious and expensive?" Tony asked and paused. "Wait, maybe that is my sort of place."

Pepper laughed, "Something like that. As long as the food lives up to the price of the neighborhood, it should be a good restaurant."

Tony tilted his glass of water toward her in a toast. "To decent overpriced food then."

"To dinner with friends," she countered, raising her own glass.

"Friends then," Tony said, the word feeling heavy in his mouth still. It still felt like too much when he finally slid out the door and back into his car.

X-X-X

"I still don't know what to do with friends," he informed the steering wheel before pulling out. Oddly, he had expected his apartment to be quiet when he returned, much as it had once been.

It wasn’t. Raven was sprawled across the large couch in the center of the room, a glass filled with something that was clearly alcohol in her left hand. One of the other chairs in the living room of the penthouse was occupied, Charles sitting sideways in one of them, his right arm draped along the back of it and a mixed drink of some sort sitting on the sleek table beside it. Raven waved at Tony as he came in and Charles tipped his head back, pausing just long enough to see that it was Tony before returning to what he had been saying—something about genetic shifts and evolutionary progression—his voice combatting with the television as he did so.

Hank was mostly focused on the controller in his hands, though he managed to keep up with Charles' drunk ramblings on genetics with apparent ease.

"What," Tony managed.

Raven set her drink aside and sat up, waving Tony over again, "Come on, I gave up playing Mario Kart with Hank last month. I think he cheats."

"I don't cheat," Hank protested. "On anything really."

"What," Tony repeated.

Charles tipped his head back to look at Tony again, "Raven found where you kept the alcohol, that's what."

"You do so cheat," Raven said, tapping her foot against Hank's shoulder. "I'm sure of it."

"How could I cheat?" Hank asked instead, giving her a betrayed look.

"You are all underage," Tony protested.

"I don't know," Raven answered Hank. "But you must."

Charles ignored Tony to turn his attention to his sister, "He doesn't cheat, Raven, he genuinely is that much better than you are at it."

"No one is going to bother listening to my righteous indignation, are you?" Tony groaned.

"Your righteous indignation is so far only stating the obvious," Charles pointed out by way of answer, picking up his glass to sip at it again.

"That," Tony started. "Is that my best whiskey? Are you kidding me?"

"No, this is your best gin made into a martini. Raven's got your best whiskey," Charles answered with a grin.

"Great," he said, still standing more or less in the doorway. "You get to buy me replacements then. You do not steal the guardian’s best anything. There are rules for underage drinking."

"I thought the point was not to?" Hank asked. "Or rather the rule was not to to begin with."

"Of course we were going to replace it," Charles said, sounding offended that Tony had thought otherwise.

Raven waved a hand in Tony's direction from where she was considering draping herself across Hank's shoulders instead of just across the couch, "We'll be figuring out how to do that after the hangovers tomorrow. Probably just give you the money for it."

"Yeah, sortta the only possible way to make it work," Hank said.

Charles nodded his agreement, "So we'll get you the money tomorrow."

"Good," Tony said and seemed to deflate, sitting down next to Hank and stealing the bottle from him.

Raven frowned at the TV, "We need something else to do. I'm getting tired of watching Hank beat this game over and over."

"I think I noticed a karaoke machine earlier," Hank said. "When I was looking for the Xbox."

"I remember buying neither of them," Tony said. "And I need way more of this before the idea of singing passes your mouth again."

"Did he have any other games?" Raven asked, rolling to her feet and catching her balance easily enough.

"Only a couple," Hank said.

"Damn. Anything that doesn't include racetracks?" She glanced at Hank and then at Charles who was watching her with a vaguely bemused expression on his face.

"Sorry," Hank said.

"They're the only good drunk games," Tony replied, as if that explained it all.

"You said you didn't even know you had an Xbox," Raven said.

"He said he didn't remember buying it." Charles corrected, "There's a distinct difference."

His sister offered him a look, "Only you, Charles, could argue semantics right now."

"Ah, but it is important," Tony said. "And mostly sober me still remembers how drunk me thinks."

Raven turned the expression on Tony, "So sober you knows why you bought a karaoke machine?"

"No, but I'm sure it's the same reason I have an Xbox," he said. "Though, uh, that one makes slightly less sense to me because I hate singing."

That earned a sharp grin from Raven, "We are definitely getting that out tonight."

"Find me another bottle and I teach you ingrates how to properly appreciate the best damn scotch in this town."

Raven made her way unerringly to where Tony had hidden his best alcohols, returning with a bottle of scotch and handing it to him before sprawling across the couch again.

"I really need a better lock," Tony decided after a moment.

"I love how you think that would stop us," Raven said with a smile. "So, did you have a good dinner?"

"I could have been working late you know," he said, rising and finding the tumblers.

Charles smiled sweetly at him, "Except you weren't."

"You shut up," Tony said. "My ability to lie to myself and others is one I take pride in, and you have to keep going and ruining it. Stop."

"At least he's not projecting yet," Raven said, draping an arm over her forehead.

"I don't do that often," Charles protested.

"I can't say you're the most reassuring group I've ever gotten drunk with," Tony said and Hank snorted before trying to smooth out his face.

"Raven tends to slip between faces and voices," Charles contributed with a smirk.

"Yes, I know," Tony said, leaning back with his tumbler.

"Charles hates it when I do that after his second drink," Raven said, her smile turning almost wicked.

"It gets confusing," Hank said and Tony turned his head to look at him.

"Are you as experienced a drinker as they are?" he asked.

"No," Hank grunted. "Not usually. Sometimes. But not usually."

"It was harder to get together for this sort of thing before," Raven admitted, earning a dark glance from Charles.

"Ah," Tony said and dropped it.

X-X-X

Charles stumbled out of his room the following morning, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose as he slumped at the table, growling when Raven's chair scraped the floor as she slid away from him. She offered him a dark look, "Don't give me that, you're projecting and I don't need your headache too."

Hank ignored both of them, heading with determination for the stove. Tony groaned from where he hadn't left the couch. "Did that honestly all happen?"

"You mean the god-awful karaoke ‘til all hours when we were too drunk to hold a tune, even if we could sober?" Charles asked, "When the headache disappears I can offer you my memories of it, if you'd like."

"No," Tony said quickly.

"Good answer," Raven offered getting to her feet and stumbling over to make the coffee machine work.

"I get those but usually only on special occasions."

"Drunk karaoke with us is a special occasion?" Raven asked, looking toward him and resisting the urge to hit the coffee maker to get it to brew faster.

"No, surviving," Tony said.

"You wound us, Tony," Charles said, turning his head where it rested on his crossed arms to look at his sister. "Water?"

"Get it yourself," she answered irritably.

"Everyone be nice," Hank said, staring pancake mix.

"He hasn't latched onto your brain this morning, Hank," Raven whined as Charles finally shoved himself to standing and got himself a glass of water.

"You'll live," he said. "We all hurt right now."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Raven muttered, the coffee finished and she poured herself a cup. Pausing, she nodded once and poured another for Tony.

"Thanks," Tony said, pausing before wandering away from the kitchen and fishing his phone out of the couch.

Charles glanced in that direction before looking toward Hank, "How are the pancakes coming?"

"You can wait," Hank said, putting a few more on the plate. "And we can all eat together."

Tony pulled his phone out from behind a cushion with a small sound of triumph. Checking the time, he figured Pepper would probably be home from her morning work out and hit her speed dial.

He had timed it right and she picked up on the third ring, "Morning, Tony. Seems early for a Saturday."

"So, did I actually buy myself a karaoke machine or did the kids buy it as a joke to try and pass off as something drunk me did?"

"You were nearly blackout drunk at age twenty-three and you decided it would be the most awesome thing to own," Pepper answered easily. "I tried to talk you out of it, but gave up after you started singing the third song instead of listening to me."

"Fantastic," he said. "Well drunk present me still agrees with drunk past me, so bonus points for being consistent I guess?"

"You went home and got drunk last night? No, better question, you went home and had drunk karaoke last night?"

“Yes?" Tony managed. "Funny how I can lose all my adult dignity within moments like that."

"With your wards I'm assuming?" Pepper's voice sounded caught between resigned and amused.

"They were drinking before I got here," he said primly. "And they were doing it wrong too!"

"They got into your best alcohol didn’t they?"

"They did," Tony sighed. "You still love me right? Even when I get three teenagers drunk? Or facilitate their drinking?"

"We'll call it supervising at this point," Pepper said with a sigh and the hint of a smile in her voice. "Better that they drink where you know about it and can, hopefully, monitor them a bit."

"Monitor," he agreed. "Yes. That's what I was doing."

"Next time, try to be a hair more sober and the word might apply more," Pepper suggested.

"You try to stay sober with three drunk teenagers," Tony muttered.

She laughed, "You got drunk enough for karaoke, Tony."

"Three of them," he whined. "I more or less adopted McCoy too and he's making hangover pancakes right now."

"So you have three teenagers and one of them is making you pancakes now?" Her smile was audible, "Only you could manage this, Tony."

"I suppose I should just hold a funeral for my maturity now," he said, running a hand over his face.

"Ah, it'll be back on Monday when you step in the office."

"At least they'll all potentially leave for college at the same time."

"You'll miss them." She suddenly cracked up again, "Oh god, you with Empty Nest."

"Ugh," Tony groaned. "Shut the fuck up, Pepper, that won't be funny. But there's still over three years between then and now."

"You're right. I'll have to call Rhodey, share that warning with him."

"Don’t... no, you won't because you'll want to see not only his face but mine when you tell him which means you're gonna wait until he's in town again. I know your mind too well Ms. Potts."

She chuckled, "Alright, that's true. He's due back in the next few weeks isn't he?"

"Yes," Tony groaned. "Whatever. I'm going to have my hangover pancakes now."

"Enjoy the pancakes. Good luck next time you get drunk with your wards. All...three of them I guess."

"Good day, Ms. Potts," he said primly and flicked the phone off.

Charles looked in his direction, hiding a smile behind his water glass, "Good talk with Miss Potts?"

"Shut up all of you," Tony said, sliding into one of his chairs at the table. "And please just tell me the pancakes are ready."


	9. Countergambit

Alex stretched out on his back, arms out at his sides in the grass at the local park. His eyes were closed against the sun and he shielded them with his hand after a moment and opened them to look at Hank, "Am I really going to ever actually need what I'm learning in biology?"

Hank sighed, rubbing both hands over his face. "Yes? Probably not in an obvious and apparent way, but someday you'll be in a situation and go aha, I'm glad I learned this. Even if it's just to smack someone down at a party who's being an ignorant bigot."

"I love how you think I'd use this to argue against someone being a bigot instead of, y'know, popping them in the jaw," Alex said, looking moderately amused.

"I have faith in your growing maturity," Hank replied primly. "Uh, someday maybe."

Alex actually laughed at that, "This is what I like about you." He rolled over onto his stomach, propping himself up on his elbows and poking at the biology book as though that would make it make more sense, "Okay, I'll try again."

Hank's brow twitched like he was surprised it was that easy before shrugging and poking through his own book. "I guess arguing the sake of grades for the sake of grades isn't going to ever work here?"

That earned a snort and a shake of Alex's head, "Not at all. I've given up on grades that are good enough for that argument to work."

"But," Hank started, considered, and decided to finish. "You could have those grades."

Alex paused at that, turning his head to look at Hank, "You really think so?"

"If you tried, yeah," Hank said. "You're not stupid just, uh, reckless? Bored?"

"What's the point though? College is a stretch at best," Alex said, grimacing at the book. "And it's not like you need good grades for the jobs you can get without a degree."

"Do you want to go to college?" Hank asked after a moment.

Alex shrugged, "Fuck if I know. I mean, what would I even do with it? Besides end up in debt."

"You don't have to go into debt to get into college," Hank said. "Uh, I mean, I know it's most likely, but at the same time we're freshmen, right? Isn't it better to keep options open now then close them down because you don't know? Besides, there are a lot of vocational schools..."

Alex shifted his shoulders uncomfortably, but managed to force an almost teasing smile, "You just want me to focus on my homework."

"I want you to have options when you want them," Hank replied, looking angry for a second before he smoothed his face out. "And don't sell yourself short all the time."

Looking back at the textbook, Alex flipped one of the pages back and forth for a moment, "Tell you what, I'll actually put an effort in. If I can turn my semester grades around by the end of the year, I'll do my best to stop selling myself short. If I can't, well then maybe you'll see that's a little more faith than you should have."

Hank buried his face in his hands. "Okay fine," he said, muffled.

Alex rolled onto his side, facing Hank and shoved at his knee, "You've got my promise that I'll actually try though, kay?"

"Sometimes I want to shake you, though I'm not sure that would help," Hank said, finally dropping his hands. "Thank you for at least promising to try."

"Nah, shaking doesn't help much," Alex agreed, biting at the cuticle of his left thumb. "So what's it like spending time at Tony Stark's penthouse?"

"Oh my god," Hank said immediately.

Alex laughed, "That good huh?"

"He has a karaoke machine," Hank said, hiding behind his hands again. "And a lot of booze."

"Wait. Wait, are you saying you went to our principal's home and got drunk and sang karaoke?" Alex cackled.

"Do you know how hard it is to go to school the next week knowing how badly he sings while drunk?" Hank asked, still behind his hands.

"Tell me that you or Raven recorded that, please?"

"I think we were too drunk, but I could double check with Charles," Hank said. "He then insisted that if we were going to drink his best booze, we were going to learn how to do it right."

"Well, I guess that's one way to be a guardian of minors," Alex said, trying to hide his grin.

"Oh my god," Hank repeated. "No, it's not. How did I get dragged into this? I don't even like drinking all that much, which, is sortta a pain when you're friends with Raven and Charles of all people."

"You could turn them down?"

Hank cracked his fingers open enough to stare at Alex through his hands.

"Right, Charles and Raven. No turning them down," Alex nodded. "I keep forgetting."

"You might get used to it in time," Hank said after a beat, dropping his hands back into his lap.

"I'd like that. Well, not getting used to being unable to say no, but having time to do so," Alex said, knocking his shoulder against Hank's knee.

"Really?" Hank asked, expression a little wary.

Alex nodded, "Yeah. It'd be nice."

"I'd like that too," Hank said, ducking his head down.

Alex offered him a cautious smile, "Really?"

"Well, I mean," Hank rubbed a hand over his chin and shrugged. "Yeah?"

Alex shifted so he was on his knees, instead of stretched out on his side, his eyes never leaving Hank.

"Um," Hank blinked, holding himself very still.

"I think I want to kiss you," Alex said, before his brown eyes widened and he rocked back, clapping a hand over his mouth and swearing into it.

"Most people do that before they say it," Hank said, still frozen and his eyes wide.

"I can't," Alex said, keeping the distance between them and darting a glance away.

"You, what?" Hank asked, still not moving.

"Oh, fuck," Alex swore. "I wasn't ready to have this talk, but I can't kiss someone without it, and I really like it here, but I can't seem to keep my fucking mouth shut and—damn it."

"Do you have an infectious disease in your mouth?" Hank asked, tone much lighter then he currently felt.

"It's not a _disease_ ," Alex snapped before he realized that Hank didn't actually know what he was talking about. He could feel his temperature rising and he took a deep breath and forced his panic down. "Fuck it. I'm a mutant. And I'm not a safe one."

Hank stared at him a moment too long. "Sorry, what?"

Alex snapped his biology book shut, shoving it into his backpack, "Like fuck I'm saying that again. I'll go, you won't have to worry about me being around you anymore."

"Ha ha," Hank said, throwing himself at Alex and tackling him down. "No."

"Get off!" Alex snapped, shoving Hank back, still caught up in fight or flight and not trusting his power in that situation. Hank easily rolled off him, but kept a hand clamped around his wrist. Alex's breathing was rapid and shallow and he tugged once on where Hank still held him, "Let me go."

Hank sat up, hesitating before letting Alex go and grabbing his backpack instead, drawing it as a hostage into his lap. Alex eyed him warily, shifting back until he was just out of reach. "So you're a mutant," Hank said. "What can you do?"

"I shoot energy," Alex said, crossing his arms over his chest and hunching his shoulders. "Basically I blow things up."

"Often?" Hank asked after a beat.

"Not as often as I used to." Alex said after a moment, "But more often than I like."

"Okay," Hank said. "I mean, that's a problem, sure, I mean, explosions aren't always great but what the fuck do you mean, and you won't have to worry about me being around you anymore?"

"You want me around you after this? I mean, yeah we've got classes, but I'm pretty fucking good at avoiding people when it comes down to it," Alex said, his eyes narrowing with distrust.

Hank was frowning at him, still clutching Alex's backpack to his chest. "Why would I want you to avoid me?"

"Did you miss the mutant part? Or the part where I blow things into pieces?" Alex asked, eyeing him.

"Well, I can't really blow stuff up," Hank said after a beat. "I just run really fast and enjoy hanging upside down from light fixtures on the ceiling. So it's not really comparable but..."

Alex's eyes widened and he slowly uncrossed his arms, "You're a mutant too?"

"Yeah," Hank said. "I'm not saying it's exactly comparable but, yeah."

Alex hesitated for a moment, sliding a bit closer, "If I promise not to run, will you let go of my bag?"

"Not yet," Hank said.

"Okay, that's fair," Alex said. "I'm sorry I freaked out on you. I just, well."

"Are used to people freaking out on you?" he asked.

Alex nodded slightly, "Darwin didn't, but I can't actually hurt him."

"Mutant too?" Hank asked after a beat.

Alex flinched, swearing under his breath before he nodded, "Yeah." Hank could not stop the tiny laugh that escaped him. Shoving Hank lightly, Alex shook his head, "Don't laugh, I just accidentally outed my best friend."

"Outed," Hank repeated. "Oh my god we have two closets."

"You just figuring this out?" Alex asked, his eyebrows rising slightly. Hank buried his face in Alex's backpack to muffle his giggles. "Laughing?" Alex popped the head off a clover blossom and chucked it at Hank, watching it bounce off his forehead with a grin. "You're ridiculous."

"I'm sorry," Hank said, not sounding sorry at all and finally looking up. He paused for a long moment, catching sight of Alex's face again and stilling.

Alex offered him a lopsided grin, "You're not actually sorry at all are you?"

"No," Hank admitted, staring at his mouth.

"You sure about this?" Alex asked, leaning closer.

"Um, certainty about anything is not something I can usually claim," Hank said. "It's also probably scientifically unlikely to ever be certain about anything," he babbled, tilting in closer to Alex the whole time, backpack still squarely on his lap.

"You talk too much," Alex said, leaning in to kiss Hank finally. Hank sucked in a breath through his nose, freezing again as if he feared moving would break the whole illusion of Alex kissing him. Alex's lips were chapped and warm, and he drew back after a moment, looking at Hank almost uncertainly.

"I'm sorry," Hank said, seeming to mean it this time. "I'm not used to—uh—this."

"To kissing?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," Hank breathed, his whole body still tilted toward Alex.

"You okay with it, anyhow?"

"Uh-huh," Hank said, nodding too quickly to go back to staring at him.

"Good," Alex said, pausing before leaning in to try the kissing thing again.

This time Hank brought one of his arms up, sliding it around the back of Alex's neck and holding on, tentatively moving his mouth against his. Alex lifted the hand he wasn't using to support his weight to rest on Hank's chin. He tried to change the angle of the kiss and drew back when he jammed his nose against Hank's. Hank huffed a laugh and drew him back. "I thought you would have had more practice?"

Alex huffed a breath that might have been an exasperated laugh, "I have."

"Well more practice is good," Hank decided after a beat, sliding both his large hands around to cup the back of Alex's head to pull him back into a kiss.

"So much for studying," Alex murmured when they drew apart for breath again.

"We can, uh, do both," Hank said, breathless. "Later."

That earned a laugh from Alex and he pulled his backpack away from Hank, shoving it to one side, "Alright."

Hank swallowed hard at the loss of his shield, hesitantly tugging on Alex's waist to pull him closer. Alex moved willingly, his hands coming up to cup Hank's face as he kissed him again, feeling his body temperature rise and steady at a safe level. "I really like you," Hank said quietly, between kisses. "I really, really like you."

"Me too," Alex breathed, his lips still brushing Hank's. "I mean, I mean I like you."

"Well that reassures me a little," Hank said, a grin breaking out.

"Good," Alex said with a matching grin.

"We should, at some point, return to getting work done," Hank said, kissing Alex again instead.

Alex returned the kiss before drawing back and putting space between them, "Really should work."

Hank dragged him back, a little forcefully.

Alex yelped slightly, but settled quickly, "I thought the point was me getting my grades up?"

"Yes, yes it most definitely is," Hank said, still pressing their mouths together again anyway. All but melting into the kiss, Alex hummed and let his eyes slip closed. Hank drew back finally, resting their foreheads together. "Okay," he murmured. "I think, I can, maybe, concentrate."

Alex grinned, "Well, let's try that then. I'm still getting mitosis and meiosis mixed up."

Hank groaned. "Okay, okay," and he slowly drew back, prying his fingers apart and dropping his hands into his lap.

Alex rocked back, staying close to Hank as he pulled his book out again.

Hank's fingers twitched before he settled back down. "Alright," he started, voice level though there was still color high on his cheeks and it was apparent to anyone looking at him he had been kissing someone. "So. Uh. Mitosis."

Alex stared at him for another moment before clearing his throat and turning to that section of the textbook, "Right, mitosis."

"Can I call you my boyfriend yet?" Hank asked after a beat.

Alex blinked a couple of times before grinning, "Yeah, yeah you can."

"Okay," Hank said, ducking his head down and grinning.

"Raven's never going to let us hear the end of it, is she?"

Hank shrugged slightly. "Probably not. Is that... going to bother you?"

Alex shrugged, "Only if Scott making pointed comments bothers you. Though he won't make too many of them."

"He has some more tact then Raven or Charles," Hank said dryly.

"Okay that's true," Alex said. "It'll be fine."

"Yeah," Hank said and couldn't help but lean in and kiss him again, quickly, his fingers under Alex's chin just for a moment before drawing back.

Alex offered him a grin, "We're never going to get studying done again are we?"

"I'm focusing now, I am," Hank said, ducking his chin.

"Yeah, but I'm not," Alex replied, ducking in for another kiss.

"Oh," Hank managed, twining his arms back around Alex.

Alex startled as his phone buzzed. He scrambled for it and checked the text, "Scott says he's going to come get me in half an hour."

Hank weighed his hands, as if considering options. "Think you could learn biology in that time?"

Alex seemed to consider that for a moment, "Maybe? Probably not."

"Think we can make out that long?" Hank asked, shyly.

That earned a grin, "Definitely."

"Okay," Hank said cheerfully.

Scott pulled in exactly thirty minutes later, getting out of the car and looking around the park. Spotting Alex and Hank his eyebrows rose and he placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled two tones.

Alex barely drew back from Hank, recognizing the whistle as he raised a hand and flipped his brother off.

"Oh that's mature," Scott said, walking over.

Blush steadily worsening, Hank offered Scott a weak smile. "Hello."

Scott's lips twitched upward, "Good study session?"

"Yeah," Alex said, gathering his books into his bag. "Better than yours."

"I mean," Hank said. "We did study. Honestly. For a while."

Scott looked at Alex for a moment, "You told him?"

"No. I kissed him and let him go in blind. If I hadn't you just made it obvious," he replied.

"Right, that's not subtle," Hank said. "Hi, I am too, by the way."

Scott nodded, "Small town considering how many of us are here, isn't it?"

"What, four?" Alex asked.

"Five," Scott shook his head.

"Who's five?" Hank found himself asking.

"Nope, not my place," Scott said, categorically refusing to let on about his girlfriend’s ability to move things with her mind.

"Fair," Hank said after a beat. "But I think I can add at least three more onto that list."

" _Three_?" Alex turned to look at Hank. "Really?"

Hank shrugged. "At least," he said.

"Okay, what is it about this town?" Scott asked, a frown creasing his brow.

"No idea," Hank shrugged. "Maybe it's something in the water."

"I wonder how many of us there actually are," Alex said after a moment.

"I almost agree," Hank said after a beat. "But I don't think I want a list to actually exist."

"A list?" Alex paled slightly and Scott shuddered at that idea. "No, no list."

"Exactly," Hank said. "I'm alright with living with my curiosity."

Scott nodded, "You okay getting home on your own, Hank?"

"Yeah," Hank said, unfolding his long legs and pushing himself up. "I'll be fine. Thank you Scott."

Alex hauled himself to his feet, slinging his bag over his shoulder, offering Hank a small smile, "Catch you later?"

"I'll be easy to find," Hank nodded.

Scott turned and headed back to the car. Alex glanced after him and then leaned in for another quick kiss, "Bye, Hank."

"Bye," Hank said, sounding breathless all over again.

Alex offered him a grin and then hurried after Scott. Hank stood there for several long moments before he bent down to scoop up his own bag and head back to Tony's apartment, having already promised Raven to come.


End file.
